I do not own Harry Potter or the Vampire Diaries
"Damon are you okay?" Stefan asked when he saw the tortured look on his face, listening to her heartbreaking crying.
"No I am not okay! Why the hell would she do that! She could have been safe all these years but she threw that away to be with them! Why!" Damon shouted angrily.
"Same way you did for me. You had every chance to run away when you grew up, you were a man when I was a child and yet you still stayed, you stayed for me, and yes, I know it's not in the same way, because you did it to protect me and she did it knowing that they'd be fine but she just couldn't leave them. She loved them, she couldn't live without them no matter how much pain she had to endure, you were worse than her in the sense that you took the blame for me, you took the brunt of father's anger to protect me, you were always there for me as she is for them. You both are so alike you know." Stefan commented as he swallowed trying to control the tears the memories brought back.
Damon refused to look at him at that, he wasn't the same boy anymore, neither of them were, but, he supposed they still had their moments. He didn't want to dwell on what had happened before when he was a human but Stefan's words still helped him to understand Lilah, because it's what he would have done, it's what he did do. Stefan walked towards him and not knowing what came over him, he hugged him, the memories that he had tried his best not to think about had just come rushing back and he, he just needed to hug him. Damon was shocked at the gesture, he had meant to push him away, but instead his arms wrapped around him as well.
Delilah went after Elena only to see her in tears, she immediately went to her and wrapped her in a much-needed hug. Elena cried as she held her sister, she went through so much pain just to stay with them and God, that hurt.
"Lena, hey it's ok," Delilah said as she stroked her hair.
"No it's not okay," Elena sobbed and Delilah sighed as she just held her. Jeremy came from behind them, and one look at Lilah immediately had a tear trailing down his cheek. Delilah pulled him into the hug at that and that was when the damn broke for him, he'd been holding it in since he found out about Anna's death but at the comfort she provided after that memory, he couldn't hold it anymore as she pressed a kiss to both their heads.
"I don't want you both to ever think it was your fault, ok? I stayed because I wanted to, I stayed because I loved you both, and like hell Grayson was going to separate us like that. I never meant for you both to find out like this, because I never wanted you to feel like this, they were your parents and they loved you. I couldn't take that away from you and I couldn't stay away from you either. I love you both, ok? That's all that matters now." Delilah tried to calm them down and thankfully it worked as moments later they both calmed down. Delilah pulled away from the hug and wiped both of their tears before pressing a kiss to their foreheads and ruffling their hair affectionately. They smiled at each other before making their way back inside where they found the brothers conversing friendlier than they had ever been before.
Damon and Stefan had had an awkward few moments after the hug before they actually began to have a conversation right after vowing to never speak of the hug again. When the siblings finally entered they noticed the red-rimmed eyes of Jeremy and Elena. When Elena came to him, Stefan looked down at her concerned but she just smiled telling him there was nothing to worry about so he relaxed. When Lilah came to him, he held her by the waist and asked if everything was alright, she smiled up at him as she said everything was fine, before pecking him on the lips and turning to the memory as she played it.
Snape pulled away from Lilah and wiped her tears and said, "We'll talk about this later, for now, you better get along to the hospital wing, just in case you might have a concussion."
"Can I go after the feast? I'm really hungry." Delilah said hopefully and he looked at her for a moment before pointing his wand at his desk. A large plate of sandwiches, a silver goblet, and a jug of iced pumpkin juice appeared with a pop.
"You will eat in here and then go straight to the hospital wing because I know if you go to the feast, you'll follow your friends to the dormitories and I'd rather you not sleep on a concussion. Now, I must also return to the feast." Snape said but just before he went, Delilah unexpectedly jumped up and hugged him, he looked really surprised before he awkwardly patted her on the back and they had to laugh at that, clearly he had no idea what to do.
Delilah pulled away with an embarrassed flush on her cheeks as she said, "Sorry, I just...thank you."
"For what?" Snape asked clearly confused.
"For caring," Delilah responded with a smile. He gave a stiff nod to her with a very small smile on his face before leaving the room as the scene shifted around them.
They then saw Delilah's younger self treading the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower. The castle was quiet; it seemed that the feast was over. They walked past muttering portraits and creaking suits of armor, and climbed narrow flights of stone stairs, until at last they reached the passage where the secret entrance to Gryffindor Tower was hidden, behind an oil painting of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" She said as they approached.
"Er..." Delilah said, clearly having no idea.
"The password changes every year," Delilah informed them and they nodded understandingly.
They then heard hurrying feet behind them and turned to see Hermione dashing toward Lilah with Ron right behind her.
"There you are! Where have you been?" Ron asked concerned.
"Professor Snape let me eat in his office and then I went to the hospital wing because he said I might have a concussion and that I shouldn't sleep on it. Now I'm as good as new." Delilah said brightly.
"Concussion? Was Ron telling the truth Lilah. He said that you both crashed a flying car, and that you nearly got expelled." Hermione said worriedly disapproving.
"Well, we haven't been expelled," Delilah assured her.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" Hermione asked, sounding almost as severe as Professor McGonagall.
"Skip the lecture and tell us the new password," Ron said with a roll of his eyes.
"It's 'wattlebird but that's not the point..." Hermione said clearly about to lecture them on the importance of school rules.
"What kind of password is that?" Damon asked with furrowed brows.
"Believe me I have no idea, I don't even know who comes up with them because I swear each one is more ridiculous than the last," Delilah said truthfully.
Her younger self's words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Delilah and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to scramble in after them.
"Brilliant! Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years." Lee Jordan, the hilarious guy they remembered from the Quidditch match.
"Good for you," Someone else said, someone else patted her on the back and she flinched slightly at that, only her friends noticing for they saw Fred and George push their way to the front of the crowd and laid an arm around her shoulders as they said together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"
"Sorry guys, it was a last-minute decision," Delilah said with a smile, Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but they could all see one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling them off. Delilah nudged Ron in the ribs and nodded in Percy's direction. Ron got the point at once.
"Got to get upstairs...bit tired," He said, and the two of them started pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.
"C'mon Mione," Delilah called back to Hermione who was wearing a scowl just like Percy's, she rolled her eyes at her friend before pulling her along to their dormitories calling goodnight to Ron and the others as they went.
They managed to get to the other side of the common room and gained the peace of the staircase. They hurried up it, right to the top, and at last reached the door of their old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying 'Second Years'. They entered the familiar, circular room, with its five four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. Their trunks had been brought up for them and stood at the ends of their beds.
Delilah grinned guiltily at Mione as she said, "Would it help if I humbly apologized and assured you that I actually wrote a letter first but then Hedwig flew away before I could tie it to her so flying the car to school seemed like the only option at the time?"
"I suppose," Hermione said as a smile reluctantly made its way on her face, Delilah beamed happily before they both went to bed as the scene shifted around them.
They were now in the Great Hall clearly it was time for breakfast considering the food that was served. The four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the enchanted ceiling, today, a dull, cloudy gray.
"Does it match the weather outside?" Elena questioned as she looked up curiously at the ceiling.
"Yes, it's bewitched to mirror the weather," Delilah answered her.
They watched as when Delilah came inside the Great hall, her eyes went to the Slytherin table and she moved away from Ron to go there for a second.
"Dray," Delilah said as she came behind him, he immediately turned around and got off the bench and hugged her.
"Where have you been? Why didn't you answer my letters? Do you know how worried I was?" Draco said concerned.
"I'll explain everything later Dray. It's so good to see you," Delilah said happily as she hugged him back.
"You too Lilah," Draco said with a smile on his face.
"Hey what about me?" Blaise asked with a pout. Delilah went over to where he was sitting and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind as she kissed his cheek and said, "It's good to see you too Blaise."
Damon scowled at that as he said, "Was that really necessary?"
"That was an innocent kiss," Delilah said with a roll of her eyes.
"Not to him it wasn't," Damon grumbled in annoyance.
"He's 12 years old Damie, cool it," Delilah said in exasperation. Damon sighed before kissing her cheek, then her jaw, then her neck as she tried to pull away from him but he wouldn't let her go.
"Damon. Not here," Delilah said sternly, her face red as she saw the others turn away from them.
"Then where?" Damon asked kissing her neck again.
"J-Just not now," Delilah said squirming in his arms, only driving him more crazy.
"Then when?" Damon asked playfully tightening his arms around her as he kissed the spot behind her ear.
"Stop it Damie, please?" Delilah said pleadingly with a pout on her face.
"That face is not helping me to stop, you know?" Damon said as he tilted her jaw towards him to kiss her pout away.
"Well I refuse to glamour my face so do control yourself, would you?" Delilah asked him seriously despite the smile on her face.
"Fine," Damon sighed as he stopped teasing her, she smiled at him before apologizing to the others yet again as she played the memory.
Blaise smiled at the action before she let go of him then he got up and pulled her into a hug, she stiffened at the contact before slowly relaxing and hugging him back.
"You better tell us later why you haven't replied to our letters," Blaise said as he pulled away from the hug. She nodded with a smile but before she could go back to her table he said, "I didn't send you your present for your birthday through owl because I wanted to give it to you in person." He then dug in his pocket and pulled out a present for her to open.
"You didn't have to get me anything, just remembering it was enough for me," Delilah said shyly but he rolled his eyes at her, picking up her hand and placing the box in it.
"I'm not hearing anything, now open it," Blaise said with a smile. Delilah did so and she gasped in shock at what was inside as the onlookers gathered around to see what it was.
"That's a beautiful necklace," Elena said with a smile on her face.
"I know, I have all their gifts with me starting from my first year," Delilah said fondly.
"I didn't know what you liked so I thought since you were busy making everyone else jewellery I'll buy you your own. I can change the color though if you want, it's just that they match your eyes and..." He was cut off when Delilah hugged him and kissed his cheek, again, causing Damon to scowl, again.
"I love It. It's so pretty. And, you don't need to change the colour, green is actually my favorite one." Delilah said causing many Slytherins to look at her in shock, it might not seem like a big deal but it truly was, Slytherins stay as far away from red as possible and Gryffindors stay as far away from green as possible so for her to admit that so openly, it was certainly a shock.
"It looks so expensive though. I hope you didn't spend much," Delilah said worriedly.
"Oh please, buying you something worth 1,000 galleons still won't make a dent in my vault so stop worrying your pretty little head about it," Blaise said as Damon scoffed at that, though even he had to admit that was smooth for a 12 year old. That thought was immediately replaced with annoyance when her younger self blushed at his words.
"Oh...uh...th-thank you, I should...yeah, I should go," Delilah said stuttering nervously before she turned around to walk off.
"Wait, you haven't forgotten me have you? I've been holding on to your gift too," Draco said and she turned back to him.
"You too? You know you both seriously didn't have to..." Delilah said before Draco put his finger on her lips.
"Ok stop it. We're going to give you gifts whenever we want to and you're just going to have to deal with it," Draco said before removing his finger from her lips with a pink tint to his pale cheeks. They watched as Delilah then opened the gift and again, her eyes widened at what was inside as the others once again gathered around to see.
"Oh it's so pretty," Elena gushed as she saw the necklace.
"I love it Dray. It's so beautiful," Delilah said happily as she hugged him leaving a kiss on his cheek affectionately.
"Damie I swear to God if you don't calm down..." Delilah began before he cut her off.
"What? What are you going to do? I love you. You are my soulmate. I have every right to be jealous and yes, I freely admit that I am because I don't ever want to see you with anyone else. You are mine. No one gets to touch you like that but me, no one looks at you like that but me, and those sinful lips of yours should kiss no one but me, because you are mine and mine alone and I don't share. Now get that through that beautiful head of yours before I show you how much I f$%&! want you right now." Damon said sternly as his arms tightened around her waist possessively.
"F£$% that was hot," was all Delilah could actually seem to say before immediately blushing in embarrassment as he smirked at her yet she did not break her gaze from Damon's as she said, "Just so you know, that also extends to you as well, you're not the only one who doesn't share."
"Hmm. I could get used to that," Damon said with a devilish smirk before forcefully turning her around and kissing her full on the lips. It took a while for them to part before they finally played the memory.
"I got it in red because you're a Gryffindor and it would match your uniform but since you like green I can change it if you want," Draco said as he blushed from the hug and kiss she gave him.
"No, I like it red. Thanks Dray," Delilah said earnestly.
"Your welcome Lilah," Draco said with a smile on his face. Delilah hugs him once again before she turned to leave except Blaise calls her back.
"Lilah wait a moment," Blaise said before steering her back to the table before introducing her to his friends, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis.
"They are my Slytherin besties whilst Mione, Ron, the twins, Nev and Lu are my Gryffindor besties," Delilah explained to them, this year would be when she would meet Luna for the first time since she started the same time as Ginny.
"Who's Lu?" Elena asked curiously since she hadn't mentioned her before.
"The most sweetest girl in the world. Her full name's Luna Lovegood and it honestly suits her personality so much," Delilah said with a fond smile on her face.
"Why haven't we met her yet?" Jeremy asked confused.
"She only started this year alongside Ginny so she's a year younger than me," Delilah informed them. They nodded understandingly before returning to the memory as Delilah's younger self greeted them a little shyly as they greeted her politely in return.
The scene then shifted around them and now as they looked around the hall, they found Delilah at the Gryffindor table sat next to Hermione and Ron as Neville greeted them cheerfully before he said, "Mail's due any minute. I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot."
A moment later just as Delilah had only just started her porridge, there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville's head and, a second later, something large and gray fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers.
"I still can't believe you use owls to send messages," Damon said to her shaking his head at the absurdity of that.
"It did take a bit of getting used to, to be honest," Delilah replied, she was glad for it though, otherwise she would never have met Hedwig and she honestly couldn't imagine not having her in her life as long as she was.
"Errol!" Ron said irritated as he pulled the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak.
"That is one troublesome owl," Jeremy said shaking his head at it.
"Tell me about it," Delilah said fondly.
"Oh, no..." Ron suddenly gasped.
"It's all right, he's still alive," Hermione said reassuringly as she prodded Errol gently with the tip of her finger.
"It's not that...it's that..." Ron said pointing to a red envelope.
"Oh, right, forgot about this. You all might want to cover your ears, especially you, Steffie and Damie," Delilah warned as they exchanged confused glances with each other.
"What's the matter?" Delilah's younger self asked confused at why Neville and Ron were staring at the thing like it was going to explode.
"She...she sent me a Howler," Ron said faintly.
"A what?" Elena asked confused.
"You'll see and as soon as the thing opens, I strongly recommend you vamps to cover your ears. Don't say I didn't warn you," Delilah said with a shrug.
"You'd better open it, Ron," Neville said in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it..." he gulped as he said, "...it was horrible."
The onlookers looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope in concern just as Delilah's younger self asked, "What's a Howler?"
But they all noticed how Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners.
"Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes."
Ron seemed to have agreed as he stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak, and slit it open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears just as the others followed Delilah's advice and covered their own. A split second later, the onlookers all understood why. They thought for a moment it had exploded; a roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling.
"...STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE..."
Mrs. Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen. The vamps scrunched their faces in slight pain as they pressed their hands even harder to their ears to block out the sound, the Gilbert siblings looks at the two concerned before Delilah thought of something and waved her hand over them. They sighed in relief as the loud voice died down slightly and it wasn't as painful anymore which they were relieved for because man does that woman have a mouth.
"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND LILAH COULD BOTH HAVE DIED—"
The image of Lilah dangling out of the car came to the forefront of their minds and they shuddered as they realized how right she was.
"—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED—YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."
A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had dropped from Ron's hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. Delilah and Ron sat stunned, as though a tidal wave had just passed over them. A few people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again.
"What on earth was that?" Damon asked as Delilah removed the spell.
"That's a howler. Even whilst at Hogwarts, you can't escape your parents, it's every child's worst nightmare but weirdly enough, I would have killed to get one," Delilah said sadly, she would love to have parents to scold her because that meant they cared enough to worry for her, not like the scolding her adoptive parents did, that wasn't scolding, that was just bullying.
"Well I'm pretty sure I just lost my hearing because that woman has a strong set of vocal cords and that is the understatement of the century," Jeremy said rubbing his ears.
Delilah laughed at that before she said, "She was known as Molly the Mouth when she was in school. I'm sure you can all guess why." They all laughed at the name, it suited her perfectly.
Hermione closed Voyages with Vampires and looked down at the top of Ron's head as she said, "Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you..."
"Don't tell me I deserved it," Ron snapped annoyed as Delilah pushed her porridge away with a guilty look on her face. But they had no time to dwell on the howler; Professor McGonagall was moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules. Delilah took hers and saw that they had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first.
The onlookers then followed Delilah, Ron, and Hermione as they left the castle together, they crossed the vegetable patch and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. As they neared the greenhouses they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. They all had only just joined them when she came striding into view across the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart. Professor Sprout's arms were full of bandages, and that's when they spotted the Whomping Willow in the distance, several of its branches now in slings.
Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair; there was usually a large amount of earth on her clothes and her fingernails would have made Aunt Petunia faint. Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming.
"Oh, hello there!" He called, beaming around at the assembled students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels..."
"If this was an actual film in which I could actually mute his voice, I would do it in a heartbeat," Delilah groaned in annoyance as she glared at him with the look that was up until now mainly reserved for Dumbledore.
"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" Professor Sprout said, who was looking distinctly disgruntled, not at all her usual cheerful self.
There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before, greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door before everyone started walking in.
"Look at that plant! It's bloody huge." Jeremy said pointing to the giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling.
"They are called Umbrella Flowers for obvious reasons," Delilah said as they stood by the entrance facing everyone.
The others then saw Gilderoy Lockhart grab a hold of Delilah's arm just as she was about to follow Ron and Hermione inside and Damon nearly growled at that, having already suspected that he had done something to her.
"Lilah! I've been wanting a word. You don't mind if she's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" He asked and judging by Professor Sprout's scowl, she did mind, but Lockhart then said, "That's the ticket," and closed the greenhouse door in her face.
"Lilah," said Lockhart, his large white teeth gleaming in the sunlight as he shook his head. "Lilah, Lilah..."
"Delilah." Her younger self interrupted.
"Right. When I heard, well, of course, it was all my fault. Could have kicked myself," He said and they all had no idea what he was talking about, AND judging from the look on Delilah's younger self's face, she didn't either. "Don't know when I've been more shocked. Flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you'd done it. Stood out a mile. Lilah, Lilah..."
"Delilah," She then said more forcefully.
He ignored her this time as he carried on, "Gave you a taste for publicity, didn't I? Gave you the bug. You got onto the front page of the paper with me and you couldn't wait to do it again."
"You mean when you manhandled me for that damned picture without my permission. I'm pretty sure that's a violation of my rights, especially considering I'm a minor," Delilah said clearly done with the idiotic fool that they were all beginning to get really irritated with.
"Now, now, Lilah, Lilah Lilah," Lockhart said reaching out and grasping her shoulder. She tried shrugging him off but he refused to let go.
"It's Delilah for God's sake," She said frustratedly.
"But we're friends are we not?" He asked before carrying on, not even bothering to wait for a reply. "I understand. Natural to want a bit more once you've had that first taste and I blame myself for giving you that because it was bound to go to your head, but see here, young lady, you can't start flying cars to try and get yourself noticed. Just calm down, all right? Plenty of time for all that when you're older. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking! 'It's all right for him, he's an internationally famous wizard already!' But when I was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now. In fact, I'd say I was even more of a nobody! I mean, a few people have heard of you, haven't they? All that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" He glanced at the lightning scar that everyone had found out last year was not on her forehead like they thought for some weird reasons but instead it was on her collarbone. "I know, I know—it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row, as I have—but it's a start, Lilah, it's a start."
"Should I call Madame Pomfrey?" Delilah asked before he left.
"Now why would we need her? Are you feeling sick Lilah?" He asked as he touched her forehead with his hand which she hastily slapped away.
"No there's nothing wrong with me sir, but I do think there's something off with your hearing because I'm pretty sure I told you to call me Delilah. You're my teacher and I'm your student, it's just a tad inappropriate sir," Delilah said even though she was being hypocritical considering her and Severus's relationship but in her defense, Lockhart was a creep.
"Now now, there is no need to be rude, besides, I'm sure no one would mind. There's absolutely no need to worry Lilah," He said before giving her a heart wink as he patted her arm and strode off.
"There is something seriously wrong with that guy," Elena said as Lilah's younger self walked back inside the greenhouse.
"You're telling me," Delilah mumbled sarcastically which Damon heard for he looked at her in worry as he thought about the number of people he had to kill for hurting her, and the list was just getting longer as these memories progressed, though it was sad that most of them had already been killed he thought before looking back at the memory.