Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and The Vampire Diaries. They belong to J.K. Rowling and L.J. Smith. I am writing this just for fun and no money is being made.

AN: I would like to apologize in case of any mistakes. I do not have a beta.

Fell's Church Tomb

The first Valeria saw was Bonnie lying unconscious on the ground, right in front of the tomb gate. Damon blurred towards her, kneeled next to her and patted her cheek softly.

"Bonnie?" he called.

Katherine rolled her eyes and said, "She's alive."

"Hey! Bonnie!" Damon ignored her and continued, "Wake up."

Bonnie blinked her eyes blearily as she looked up at Damon before sitting up with his help. Valeria couldn't help but notice that her nose was bleeding and the witch looked ready to cry as she picked the tome up and looked inside the tomb.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked.

Bonnie looked surprised for some reason, but shook her head and slurred, "The spell. It didn't work. I'm not strong enough."

"It's a good thing Damon bought help… because I'm still in here." Katherine sang as she dangled Jeremy by the throat and then added as an afterthought, "…and hungry!"

With that, she threw her head back and bit Jeremy's neck brutally.

"No!" Bonnie screamed; at the same time, Valeria fired, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Damon stared wide-eyed as Katherine's limbs froze before she fell back flat on her ass. Jeremy too collapsed on a heap onto the floor, though he seemed fine… or as fine as someone could be after being the blood bag of a hungry vampire. Both Damon and Bonnie looked at Valeria with eyes filled with awe. It had taken a ritual, albeit a small one for Bonnie to prepare the ashes that had incapacitated the vampire, but the blonde-haired witch had done it without much effort. How?

Bonnie couldn't help herself and ask, "How did you do that?"

"It's Body-Binding Curse. It petrifies the body of the victim, making it incapable of moving, except for the eyes and breathing. Though I'm not sure how long it would last on a vampire." Valeria replied offhandedly before moving towards the entrance of the tomb.

Before she could step further, Damon blurred in front of her and she couldn't stop the involuntary flinch at the sudden move.

He looked down at her and asked, "Uh… what are you doing?"

"You asked for my help." She informed rhetorically as if she wasn't already regretting her decision to come here.

"Yes…" Damon started, but she stopped him and stated casually, "The moonstone's still in there. Not to mention a human blood bag."

Her callousness even surprised Katherine, whose eyes were roaming around wildly as she tried to move to no avail.

Damon ignored her jab and declared, "You're not going in there."

Valeria couldn't help but gape. 'Was he actually… ordering her?'

He didn't give her a chance to speak, instead stared into her eyes, looking for all intent and purposes… intimidating, or at least he was trying, she thought hysterically as he stated, "Bon-Bon can go and fetch the moonstone … hell, even Jeremy can! It's right beside him!"

She frowned, unsure what to make of his sudden concern, but filed it for later and said, "I'm a witch. I think I can handle one vampire."

Damon nearly groaned at her stubbornness and tried again, "Yes… but she's Katherine. Did you forget that she –"

"– killed me? I remember." Valeria deadpanned before adding impatiently, "You can't go in there and Bonnie's in no shape to move. Look, the spell won't last long and we're wasting time."

He still didn't budge and glared at her, so she told him resolutely, "Damon, I'm not the girl you remember. I've been through hell and back. I know how to take care of myself."

Damon scowled, knowing she was right. Ever since he had met her, somehow, he had forgotten that she wasn't the girl he had known when they were children. But that didn't change the fact that she was Valeria – the person he had grown up with, someone who had been there in his worst. And that's why he couldn't let any harm come to her. She was human and it was Katherine on the other side of the tomb. If not for the fact that she had been Stefan's fiancée or that she was pregnant with his brother's child a lifetime ago, but because she had been his friend and he had failed her. Both he and his brother had and he wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

By the time he looked, she had moved past in and was already inside the tomb. He cursed under his breath before turning towards Bonnie and snapped, "Do something!"

Bonnie looked at him helplessly and Damon nearly pulled his hair out. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He was about to fire a sarcastic comment but stopped when he saw Jeremy floating out in mid-air and landing slowly on the floor just outside the 'wall'. He looked at Bonnie, who seemed awed, if not a bit bewildered.

Suddenly, Bonnie's eyes widened and she managed to scream a warning, "Look out!"

None of them got enough time as Katherine was up and had Valeria pinned to the wall by the throat. Her fingers tightened, making Valeria choke as she struggled through the sudden lack of air.

"I'm getting sick and tired." Katherine bared her fangs and hissed, "No worries… I've killed you before, I can do it again."

She threw her head back, ready to bite, just as Valeria managed to choke out, "Lumos Solem."

A blinding flash of sunlight erupted from her wand and the hand around her throat was gone. As Valeria slid down the wall, breathing in a lungful of air, she belatedly realised that there had been not one, but two different screams.

"Oh my God!" Bonnie gasped before asking, "Are you alright?"

Valeria's grip tightened on the wand unconsciously as she turned towards the other witch, only to frown… because where did Damon go? She heard voices from the cave and her eyes widened when she realised where the second scream had come from!

Casting a silent 'lumos', she turned to look at the other end of the cave, only to find Damon, looking pissed. But the worse thing was Katherine, who was grinning like a cat shire cat, making Valeria sigh with frustration.

AN: AN: Things have been a bit tough, so I got a tad bit late, but hopefully you liked it. On another note, I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow. Have a nice day everyone. :)

April 17th, 2021