Hello again! Thanks for all your love! As a thank-you, I wrote the longest chapter yet. I hope you like it.

Ps. Stay safe! Stay positive! And don't lose hope!


CHAPTER III

SOME TRUTHS NEED TO BE SPOKEN ALOUD

Scotland, 1002 A.D.

Ingrid found Kol in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by at least a couple of dozens of dead bodies.

For the briefest of moments, she paused as she stared at the scene in front of her. Her usually mischievous and cheerful brother looked wild, terrifying, and even a tad deranged as he desperately drank from one of the lifeless bodies. With his blood-red eyes, the spider web of red on his face, his fangs firmly stuck inside the dead man's neck and his victims' blood staining his clothes with so much of it that it seemed like their original color was red, Kol looked like the monster the people of their village had accused him – and the rest of her family – to be. He looked like an angel of death and destruction, like a creature she should fear.

But then the moment passed and she resumed her walk towards him.

She knew she was supposed to be afraid. And, if she was being truly honest, she would have to admit that she'd been terrified at first.

Nobody could fault her for that.

After all, it was not every day you go to sleep, dream with Death, and then wake up weeks later, feeling how your whole body ached with tiredness, sleepiness and lethargy because your Aunt almost killed you when she channeled your magic to do an immortality spell on the rest of your family. She'd been dizzy and sluggish for the first days, going in and out of consciousness. But when she'd finally be able to get up and face the rest of the world, she'd found out that everything had changed. The world she knew was no more. And it'd taken her some time to realize one simple truth.

It didn't matter.

It didn't matter if the immortality spell had truly turned her family into the monsters everyone thought they were. It didn't matter that they needed to drink blood and kill to survive. It didn't matter that this new reality meant that time and age had stopped for them. And it didn't matter because, at the heart of everything, they were still her family.

She loved them, just like always.

Kol was still Kol. And she could never fear – hate – him.

It was that knowledge that made her ignore common sense – which told her it was a bad idea to tempt fate like that – and walk towards him, and then sat calmly by his side, pretending to not notice how hungrily Kol was drinking from his prey.

After what it felt like an eternity, Kol dropped the body to the ground, wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve, and then turned to her.

"Satisficed?"

"No" he admitted with a rough voice and twitching hands. "I keep drinking and drinking but I can't seem to fill the emptiness inside of me."

Ingrid's heart bled out for him.

His words brought back the memory of how shattered he'd looked the first time she'd seen him after he'd been turned, drenched in blood and crying alone in the middle of the woods; and how he'd clung to her, crying on her lap as he told her he was broken. 'My magic is gone and I felt so empty… It's like I'm broken, Ingrid… She broke me….'

She hadn't known what to do then, how to respond, so she'd just hold him and let him cry, whispering prayers for his happiness to every deity she knew. And that day, as she rocked him back and forth like he was baby, she'd promised to herself to find a way to help him, one way or another.

But she hadn't got the chance to actually do it. Because before she could make a plan or try to come up with an idea, they'd been forced to run away from their village, their land, and the only life they'd ever known. And then they'd been forced to spent days, weeks, maybe even months, inside a ship towards the old world, hoping and praying to put as much distance between her Uncle – Mikael, he was just Mikael now – and them. Until, finally, they'd reached this new land, so far away from their home, and she'd known it was past time to fulfill her promise.

With that in mind, she lifted both of her hands and offered them to him.

Kol flinched away from her, looking horrified. "I could never drink from you, Ingrid." And she knew he was being serious because he was using her name.

Despite the gravity of the situation, she couldn't help but smile a little. His words were an echo of how Niklaus and the rest of her siblings had reacted when she'd offered herself as their next meal after they'd drunk from the rest of the crew and there had been no land on sight for days. In response, they'd told her, in no uncertain terms, that they would first throw themselves to the sea before drinking from her and risk her life. It'd made her loved them even more, to know they were willing to put her life and safety first, even before the very thing that they now craved more than anything else.

"I wasn't offering this time, I swear. I just want you to take my hands."

Kol frowned a little, clearly confused, but he obediently came near her and took her hands on his, trusting her implicitly. Ingrid smiled at him, grateful for his faith, then she closed her eyes and focused on her magic, putting every bit of her energy and will to make this work.

She needed this to work. For him. Her brother, best friend and confident.

The thing was that, out of everyone, she was probably the only one who understood how much magic meant to Kol.

Ingrid had been raised alongside her Uncle's children since she'd been a baby, and she and the rest of the Mikaelson siblings had grown to be a rather close-knit group, even among people who shared blood. They'd grow up – playing, laughing, crying, arguing – together, had kept each other's secrets, had defended each other against anyone who wasn't family and had loved each other unconditionally for as long as all of them could remember. So every single one of them had a special and sacred place on her heart.

But her bond with Kol was different.

Ingrid and Kol had been born on the same day, in the same month of the same year. And Finn had told her more than once that they'd been in perfect harmony with each other since day one. According to him, they both had cried every time someone had tried to take one of them away, had laughed when the other had done so and had been seemingly capable of understanding each other needs in a way nobody else could. And maybe that closeness would have eventually disappeared as they grew up. But, instead, their bond had been strengthened when they discovered their shared love for magic.

There were no words to describe how marvelous it was to have magic, to experience that rush of power every time you cast a spell, to be amazed by the knowledge that you could control something so incredible and be humbled by the wonders you could create with it. There were no words to describe magic. But Ingrid and Kol, both prodigies of magic in their own right, have loved it with an intensity that was impossible explain and that nobody but the two of them had really understood. So it'd been inevitable that they'd became each other confident and best friend as they grew up, exploring magic and daring each other to go beyond the limits that most people had.

Now here they, so many years later in a strange land, and one of them had lost forever his access to magic – which was the anathema to everything they'd known and loved their whole lives – while the other, who still had her magic, was incapable of fixing the problem – which was a very cruel twist of fate; and considering everything they'd gone through, that was saying something.

But even if she couldn't give him back his magic, she could share with him the feeling of it, even if it was for a very little while. After all, everyone had always said her magic was different, as it seemed to be alive inside of her, allowing her to do things beyond imagination. 'A gift' Ayana had said once. And she was going to use that to her full advantage.

So she focused on the core of magic inside of her and willed her magic to go to her brother, to allow him to feel that wonderful rush of power and energy that she felt every time she did magic. And it was exhausting, to command her magic in that way, but she knew it was working because Kol was laughing in wonder and his hands were shaking as they squeeze hers almost to the point of pain. And for his happiness, she ignored her sudden tiredness and gave him more of her magic. She gave and gave, only focusing on her magic and Kol, until she was forced to stop because she felt like she was about to pass out.

It took her a moment to open her eyes – to shake away the dizziness and the growing headache – but, when she finally did, she was met with the wonderful view of Kol's blinding smile.

It was a sight that had been sorely missed in recent weeks.

"Thank you, sister" he choked, hugging her tightly to his chest "Thank you so much"

"Do you still feel empty?" she asked, hugging him back.

Kol threw back his head and laughed aloud, and even if his eyes were teary and misty, this was the happiest she'd seen him since he'd been turned. "No. I almost feel like I'm me again."

"Good" she smiled, pleased with how happy he looked, and then she let herself fall backward to the ground, too tired to waste energy in trying to stay upright. After a moment, Kol lay down by her side and both of them looked up to the clear sky, ignoring the dozens of bloodied and lifeless bodies surrounding them.

"So… Now that my mind is clearer, I feel is my brotherly duty to pry on your love life"

Ingrid refrained from grimacing, knowing perfectly well what he was talking about. "Everything is fine, brother. There's nothing to pry."

"Please, sister. Remember that I was the one taught you how to lie. I know all your tells." Kol said, smirking in her direction.

"Fine" she sighed, giving up "What do you want to know?"

"What's wrong between you and Nik?" He demanded immediately "The two of you have spent weeks trying and failing to act like you aren't moping, mooning over the other when you think nobody is looking. And I don't understand why… I thought everything was perfect between you two?"

This time, she did grimace. "It has been that obvious?"

"Yes." Kol said with vehemence "I could tell you were moping and I was in a blood-induce-daze. It's pathetic, sister. So I'm demanding an explanation."

Her heart started beating faster, knowing she was going to voice aloud the fear that had been plaguing her for some time. "I don't know what went wrong… Everything was alright and then we left the village and he started to become distant… And now I fear… I fear that he doesn't love me anymore"

She'd expected a lot of responses from Kol. From reassurances that her fears were ridiculous to promises of bodily harm. But she could have never expected for him to throw back his head and cackle, his booming laugh echoing through the clearing and making even the birds fly away.

"What's so funny?"

Probably sensing how much his reaction had hurt her, her brother was quick to sober up, sending a soft smile in her direction. "Oh, sister dearest. I never thought I would say this to you – because you're normally the level-head one – but you're been stupid… Niklaus loves you. Everything can see that"

"But…"

"Look" Kol cut her off, suddenly very serious "I think I've got an idea about what's going on with Nik… But you might not want to hear it."

Ingrid frowned, indignant. "Of course I want to hear it. I deserve the truth!"

"Very well" Kol nodded "Then I'm going to ask you something. What do you plan to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we'd put an ocean between Mikael and us, and yet, that's not going to be enough. Besides having the same new abilities that we have, Father is a skilled hunter and warrior. He won't give up until we lay dead at his feet. And that means we need to keep running without looking back… We're probably going to end up running for however long we live… But that doesn't have to apply to you."

"Of course it applies to me! What are you-?"

"Think about it, Ingrid. You weren't turned into a monster like us. You're still a perfectly normal human girl."

She shook her head. "Aunt Esther said I'm linked to all of you. She said the spell stopped my aging progress."

"Maybe" Kol conceded, his jaw clenching at the mention of his mother "But you're still human. A witch. You can settle down in some village, marry some human boy, and have the large batch of children you always dreamed of. You could be happy… Far away from us, you will be free."

"Do you really expect me to abandon you?" she asked in a whisper, stunned.

Her brother shrugged. "I was a little too preoccupied trying to drown myself in blood to think about anything else… but I hear Finn and Elijah talking about it. They don't think is fair to drag you with us. To risk your life like that, especially because you're still vulnerable to mortal weapons. They want you safe. And if that means you've to be far away from us, they think that's a fair price to pay."

"Do all of you-?"

"Bekah hasn't said anything yet… and I'm too selfish to even contemplate the idea of letting my favorite sibling go but… I'm pretty sure the kind of love you and Nik share is all about sacrifice and selflessness. So I think he's trying to give you space to figure out your options."

"But I don't want to live my life without Niklaus. Without any of you." She confessed. The idea of leaving the love of her life and her sibling behind had never even crossed her mind. It was absurd. Without her family by her side, she could never be truly happy. "Why didn't he say anything to me?"

"That's a good question, sister… What's your answer to that, Nik?"

For a second, she frowned in confusion, thinking Kol had somehow confused their names. But then she saw how her brother sat up, turning his head in the direction of the other side of the clearing and her mouth dropped open when she caught sight of Niklaus, coming out of the threes with careful and slow steps.

"How-?"

"Oh. This another consequence of mother's spell. Now we can't even have a nice and private conversation in the middle of the woods without everyone else listening in… I bet you couldn't resist coming here as soon as we started talking about you, right Nik?"

"Kol…" Niklaus said, his eyes flashing red in a silent warning.

"Fine. Fine." He said, getting up and then helping her to get up "I know when I'm not wanted. I'll leave you to your conversation" Kol walked away from her until he was in front of Nik and then he warned him in a whisper too low for her to hear. "Remember what I told you when we were human, Niklaus. If you make her unhappy, I'll make you pay. And with our new abilities, I can promise you that my punishment is going to be bloody and very, very painful."

Nik nodded, once, receiving a nod in return from Kol before he disappeared from the clearing in a flash, leaving the two of them alone for the first time in what it seemed like an eternity.

"Is it true what Kol said?" Ingrid demanded, breaking the silence "Have you really been acting so distant lately because you wanted me to leave you behind?"

His face contorted in pain. "I could never want to be apart from you, Ingrid… but I love you too much to ask you to stay. Not when I don't have anything to offer you besides a life forever in the run."

"Did you ever stopped to think that maybe I didn't care about that?" She ignored the dead bodies and walked right in front of him, staring into his eyes to let him know how furious she was. "That maybe I just wanted to spend my life by your side?"

"And what life would that be?" he demanded in return "I have nothing to offer to you, Ingrid. I can't give you children or a home or a place to belong."

"That's not true! As long as we're together, I'll always have a place to belong" she claimed, putting her hand above his still-beating heart. "You're my home, Niklaus… I don't care if we can't have children, nor I care if we spent the rest of our lives running from Mikael… As long as I'm with you, I'll be the happiest woman in the world."

He choked back a sob, his blue-green eyes glistening with barely suppressed tears. "I love you more than words can express, Ingrid."

"That's good" she said, fervently, standing on her tiptoes to touch his forehead with hers "Because my love for you goes beyond comprehension, Niklaus."

His answering smile was breathtaking, his whole face lighting up as he stared at her in amazement, he gazed at her like she was a distant dream that had suddenly become very real. But when he opened his mouth again, he said the last thing she'd been expecting. "Marry me"

"A moment ago you were listing all the reasons why I should leave you" she reminded him, torn between amusement and delight. "How did you went from that to a marriage proposal?"

"I've wanted to make you my wife for a very, very long time, Ingrid. And I thought that I'd lost my chance after everything that happened but… If you're sure about your feelings for me…. If you really think you could be happy by my side…. I want you to be my wife for the rest of eternity."

"Yes... Yes! Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" She laughed, throwing her arms around his neck to hug him. His delighted laughter echoing hers as he twirled her around the clearing, making her dizzy with happiness.


&&&/03/&&&


"So, when do I get to meet my new baby sister?"

"Caroline is seventeen. If someone's the baby it would be you, little wolf" Aria said, amused and maybe a little bit relieved. Because as far as reactions went – and nobody had ever written a manual on how to tell your son you sort of adopted into the family a baby vampire, so she was kind of going blind in this – this was probably the best she could have hoped for. But then, catching on what exactly he said, she promptly added "And I think you're jumping ahead with the sister claim."

"Please, mum" Teddy said, rolling his eyes "You're Caroline's magical guardian. That makes her your ward. Your family. Therefore, my family. So, she's my new baby sister."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"And I don't get any said on this?"

"No"

Aria lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed with his explanation.

Teddy stared back through the mirror, equally unimpressed with her lack of support for his idea.

At almost twelve, with bright turquoise hair, her emerald green eyes, and a combination of her father's and Remus' features, Teddy didn't resemble at all to any of his Black ancestors. And yet, even without knowing them, he'd mastered the Black defiant smirk like a champ. That smirk had been used by generations of Blacks to tell others that they were before someone with little respect for social rules, someone who was going to fight, again and again, until they got their way. Looking at him was seeing an echo of her father, godfather, Remus, and Tonks all rolled up together in the best possible way, but with a unique flair that made him one hundredth percent Teddy, her beloved son.

"You know it's not polite to claim someone is your family without asking them first, right? Please tell me I didn't fail to teach you at least that much."

"Of course I know that, mum. But I don't see what the big deal is. You tell her the truth and we get an official new member of our family. Easy-peasy." Teddy said, with all the impatience of the youth. "C'mon… The sooner you tell her, the sooner I can properly introduce myself to her."

"Oh, yeah? What would you said to her?"

"Something along the lines of 'Hi, I'm Teddy Potter-Black, your new brilliant older brother.' And then I would ask her what the coolest thing about being a vampire is."

She snorted. "Do I really have to keep reminding you that she's older than you?"

"No, because it's not true. She was older when she was human but she's a baby vampire now. And I'm an eleven years old wizard. That means I'm older than her and, ergo, her new older brother." He claimed, utterly certain.

"Interesting reasoning" Aria scoffed, more amused than anything else. After a moment, she sobered up and carefully analyzed Teddy's expression for any sign of deception. "Are you really okay with this? I don't want you to feel excluded or uncomfortable or anything."

"I promise I'm fine." Teddy smiled, soft. "I swear I'm not pretending. I'm truly excited about this… I mean, I got a sister! And she's a vampire! It's super-hyper-extra brilliant, mum!"

Aria smiled at him, entirely too fond. "Because the important thing is that she's a vampire"

"Obviously"

"Good to know where your priorities lay, little wolf."

"Hey! That's the way you raised me! Don't you dare to put the blame on me, mum."

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Cheeky little wolf"

"I'm marauder descendant. I'm always an up-to-no-good little wolf" he corrected her, smiling too innocently.

She suppressed a smile, choosing to nod as a way to concede her defeat. "Touché"

"So… Did this mean I get to spent Easter holidays with you?" he asked, hopefully "You know, to properly meet my new baby vampire sister."

Aria considered his request, not surprised in the least by it. No when Teddy had made his feelings on the matter perfectly, abundantly, and repeatedly clear. And, if she was honest, she was tempted to say yes and be done with it. After all, she'd missed him just as much as he'd missed her, she didn't want him to be unhappy on his holidays, and Easter would truly be a perfect opportunity for Teddy to meet Caroline and spent some time with her before summer vacation. Sadly, she was bound by her duty as his parent to think about the big picture of his lasting happiness.

"Let's make a deal, little wolf" Aria proposed "You can spend your Easter holidays here if you try to be more open with your classmates… you've to let yourself have some new friends."

"Mum!" Teddy protested immediately, outraged "I told you how all of them are a bunch of sheep who don't care about anything but the fact I'm the son of the Girl-Who-Conquered! You can't seriously expect me to be friends with them!"

"Yes, I know what you said. But you see, little wolf, what I keep hearing is how all of them are like that. And I can't help but wonder if you're not putting everyone on the same box without actually getting to know them."

Teddy pouted, and even if he didn't reply anything, he lifted his chin in a familiar stubborn gesture.

"I'm not asking you to go shaking the hands of every student in Hogwarts, little wolf. I'm asking you to give them a chance to prove to you that not everyone is the same… It's not easy to talk to someone who is famous without looking like you're another fan. But sometimes the people that stay away, the ones who prefer to stay silent and observe the world around them… sometimes they're capable of seeing you for who you are. Trust me on that."

She thought of Blaise, a Slytherin student who had never interacted with her before her fourth year, and yet he'd taken his time to seek her out after Cedric's death, so he could sit by her side and tell her that he believed on her. She thought of him and the rest of the Slytherin students who had joined the DA, trusting her to teach them how to fight and defend themselves despite the fact that Aria hadn't given them a passing glance before that. She thought of the forty-one members of the DA, a perfect mix of every single house of Hogwarts, and how honored she'd felt when she'd realize the deep of their trust and faith in her. And she thought on how – not counting two notable Ravenclaw exceptions – every single one of the DA members had stood by her side on the Final Battle of Hogwarts, ready to fight and die by her side.

Teddy must had seen some of that on her face because some of his defiant stubbornness disappeared from his face. "I just have to give them a chance?"

"Just a chance. That's all I'm asking"

"Fine" He caved with an unhappy sigh. After a moment, unexpectedly, his green eyes started to shine with mischief "But you're the one who is going to tell grandma that I'm not going with her."

Only the years of experience under her belt as a parent prevented her from showing her dismay, as she knew better than let him known he'd got her. Instead, she grinned at him. "Of course, little wolf. As long as you keep your part of the deal, I'll tell your – very scary and easy to rile up – Black grandmother about the change of plans"

Teddy grinned back. "It' a deal then."


&&&/03/&&&


"I'm so sorry" Caroline said, dropping on her seat on the table.

Judging by the way Aria almost dropped her tea over the strange piece of old parchment she'd been writing on – and seriously, did witches and wizards still used parchment?! – Caroline suspected she should have announced her presence before speaking. Or maybe nor used her vampire speed to enter the dining room. Well, too late to correct any of that now.

The emerald-green witch lifted her gaze and blinked in her direction, clearly confused. "Uh? I think I'm a little bit lost here. Why are you apologizing for, Caroline?"

"Yesterday. For the werewolf and Stefan and… I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I got myself into trouble and you were forced to use your magic to save me" Caroline said in a rush, trying to express everything she'd wanted to say since the night before.

She'd wanted to apologize as soon as they'd appeared inside Aria's house, but then Kreacher had popped in saying something about a brat and a mirror – which didn't make more sense in the light of the day – and Aria had brightened like she was hearing the best news of her week, immediately following the elf to god-knows-where, cheerfully telling Caroline to make herself at home on the entertainment room. And by the time she'd bounce back, full of happy smiles and excitement, Caroline had already lost all her courage, opting to enjoy their movie night instead of saying something that could possibly ruin it.

But it was morning now, a bright new day with birds chirping on the trees and endless possibilities to explore; Caroline refused to chicken out now.

From her seat, Aria frowned at her, tipping her head to the side as she stared at her with all too knowing eyes. "Caroline, I'm not mad with you for that… If I didn't want to protect you, I wouldn't have given you the bracelet in the first place"

"I know that" Because she really did. "But I got into trouble the same day you gave it to me and now Stefan knows about your magic, which means Damon and Elena probably know by now too, and I just… I just feel guilty for not being able to keep your magic a secret."

"While I appreciate the sentiment, there's not much you could have done, Caroline. Fighting off against a werewolf on a full moon is something even centuries-old vampires on a blood diet have a problem with. Calling me was the right choice." Aria assured her, her expression open and free of any kind of deception or annoyance. "And just you know, I knew as soon as I saved your life that my magic wouldn't stay a secret for much longer"

"What? Why?"

"Because I have a saving-people-thing" Aria shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, even if there was clearly a story behind that title. "And I could never turn my back on you after I saved your life, not without a very good reason at least"

It was the way Aria said the words, freely and unfiltered - like there was no other option besides saving her life – what truly touched Caroline and silenced the voices in the back of her head which were whispering she was nothing but a burden to her new friend. And it was nice, this small reaffirmation that Aria cared for her just because she was Caroline, without any kind of strings attached. "That doesn't explain why you thought your magic wasn't going to stay a secret."

"Have you pay attention to all the craziness in this town? It's like every day a new dramatic problem pops out or something" Aria said, smiling in amusement "The only thing I was worried about was using my wand and exposing the wizarding world to them, but as long as everyone thinks I'm just another wiccan witch, everything will be fine."

"Why?" Caroline asked, perplexed "Are you not worried that they are going to try and use you for your magical powers?"

At her question, her friend's smile turned sharp and vicious. "Oh, I would love to see them try."

The way she said those words made her almost pity Stefan and Damon. Almost. But her emotions and self-confidence were still trying to find solid ground after remembering all the awful things Damon had done and said to her. And she wasn't feeling particularly merciful towards him. Stefan, on the other hand, was a lot more complicated, as Caroline could sort-of understand Stefan's position, what with Damon being, unfortunately, his brother and everything.

"So as long as they don't figure it out you're a different kind of witch everything is fine?"

"Exactly"

She thought it over. "Do you have some kind of spell or something to make them forget? You know, in the hypothetical case that someone else besides me figures out that you're a wand-wielder witch"

Aria made a face. "It's complicated. In theory, there's a spell that can wipe out memories from a person's mind and it will work just fine on your friends Elena and Bonnie but… the Salvatore brothers are trickier"

"Because they're vampires?"

"Yeah... The thing about vampires is that the magic inside of them acts as a regenerator of sorts, regenerating every cell of their body every second of every day of their life. In practical terms that means the aging process stops and all the wounds they get – except those that instantly kill them – are healed… And that kind of magic clashes with the memory charm, constantly fighting one another and creating the very strong possibility that, eventually, the vampire's regeneration power will kick in and make them remember"

Ugh, she could see how that could be a problem. "So, the solution is just avoiding the use of your wand?"

"Hmm-mmm" Aria nodded "It might not be full-proof but it'll work. Nobody besides you knows about the magical world and I can do magic without my wand just fine. So there's no reason to worry."

Maybe. But it still felt kind of shitty that Aria was dealing with all those problems for her, especially because it seemed like Caroline was incapable of defending herself against anyone. She couldn't protect herself against Damon as a human. And now, even as a vampire, she was equally incapable of protecting herself.

"I can hear you thinking from here, Caroline. What else is bothering you?"

She contemplated avoiding the question altogether, knowing her friend wouldn't press for more if she did it, because what had happened with Damon was one of few things she hadn't told Aria and speaking about it made her feel itchy and uncomfortable, and ashamed. But the open expression on Aria's face reminded her that her new magical friend had never judged her. Not once. If anything, she'd always seemed to know what to say, giving advice and reassurances that didn't feel empty, and making her feel safe afterward. And, really, if there was one person on the planet who she trusted to the point on giving her the full honesty, that was Aria.

"I just… I thought becoming a vampire would mean I would get strong enough to defend myself, you know? But last night I was at someone else's mercy again, in the same way that when Damon used me as his plaything and I just… I just don't want to be girly little Caroline anymore. I want to be strong… Strong enough to protect myself."

Aria stared at her, her mouth open and her eyes shining with too many emotions for her to understand. "…what do you mean, Caroline? About being Damon's plaything?"

Her mouth was dry and her hands were shaking but she could do this. She could be honest with Aria. It would be like ripping off the Band-Aid. So she fixed her gaze on the big French windows – because there was no way she would be able to tell that story while looking at Aria – and started talking, telling her about her first meeting with Damon and how a hook-up had turned into weeks, months, of being a compelled human blood-bag, only used for food, sex and a convenient pawn on Damon's games, with no regard whatsoever for her feelings on the matter. And how, only after being turned into a vampire, the memories had slowly came back, putting back together a horrible picture she wished she didn't remember.

When she finally stopped talking and came back from her memories, she realized with a jolt that the table was shaking and everything on it – from the plates filled with food to the silverware – was floating in the air. Stunned, she turned towards Aria and her mouth fell open at the expression on her face.

Caroline had seen a lot of sides of the British girl since they'd properly met the night of the carnival – from composed to playful to fierce – but this was the first time she saw her looking all sort of heartbroken. Her emerald green-eyes were glistening with unshed tears and her lips were firmly pressed together, like she was forcing herself to not cry. Aria was sad, she realized with some surprise, sad for her. For what happened to her.

"It's okay" she promised, not wanting to see that expression on her friend's face.

Aria choked back a sob, shaking her head with disbelief. "No, it's not. But I appreciate your attempt to make me feel better" She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and Caroline watched astounded how everything on the table went back to normal as if nothing had happened. When Aria opened her eyes again, her eyes were clear and her expression was resolute. "What do you want me to do with Damon?"

"What?"

"I can kill him if you want. If that would make you feel better."

Caroline's breath hitched, considering the possibility. It sounded so tempting. Just letting Aria get rid of Damon and she would never have to face him again. Just a word to her friend and the walking reminder of what happened would be gone forever. It would be so easy to say yes… But she would be using her dear friend as a murder weapon and Damon's blood, no matter how indirectly, would be on her hands too. And that wasn't the kind of person she wanted to be. She never wanted Aria to feel used by her, or anyone really, and she didn't want to be responsible for someone else's death. She knew how awful it felt to have someone else's blood on your hands and she didn't want to feel that again.

What she really wanted was to be strong enough to carry on with her life despite everything that happened.

"I don't want you to kill him" she said, firm and resolute "I don't want anyone to die. Not even Damon."

Aria stared at her for a long moment, considering her with pursed lips and hardened eyes, until, finally, she nodded. "If that's what you want" Carefully, she put a hand over Caroline's "It's not your fault, you know… You were an innocent human girl with no prior knowledge of vampires, there was nothing you could have done to defend yourself… Nothing that happened was your fault."

"I invited him into my home… that first night I…"

"You invited someone who you thought was a hot human boy for a hook-up. You never asked for any of the rest." When Caroline didn't say anything, Aria squeezed her hand "I'm serious, Caroline. You've nothing to be ashamed of. You did nothing wrong… And I want you to know that you are strong. Stronger than you realize. Because it takes a very special kind of courage to not take revenge on someone who has wronged you and instead choose to move on."

Caroline felt how her lips trembled and her eyes started to moisten but she refused to let any tear fall. She was done crying. She was strong. She would not cry. Not over this.

"I'll teach you"

Her surprised gazed snapped back to Aria, who was looking back at her with a determined and fierce expression on her face. "I'll teach you how to protect yourself so you would never be in that kind of position ever again."

There were a lot of things she wanted to say at that moment. Most of them some sort of thank you. Because Aria had done more for her than anyone else she knew and she was still here trying to make her feel safe and secure, willing to teach her whatever Caroline needed in order to feel strong enough to stand on her own two feet. But a thank-you wouldn't be enough. Not for this. Instead, Caroline decided to put her one-hundredth percent and then some more into learning whatever Aria taught her, so she could know how much she appreciated it. And maybe, someday, Caroline would find a way to tell Aria how grateful and humbled she felt by everything the other girl had done for her.

"When do we start?" she asked instantly, beaming with excitement.

Slowly, a small smile grew on Aria's face, softening the fierceness from before. "As soon as you finish your breakfast, I guess"

"Awesome!"


&&&/03/&&&


Aria knew as soon as they approached the perimeter's wards of her land that two vampires – or, more specifically, the Salvatore brothers – were making their way towards her house.

All her years as Voldemort's main target, her long year on the run, and then her need to move from one place to another had made her very, very appreciative of Mad-Eye's Constance Vigilance Policy. Which, of course, meant that every single one of her residences on the muggle world – all of which were acquired through the goblins and put under the name of the Marauders' Foundation in an effort to not leave behind a paper trail that could be connected to her – were heavily warded, for precaution, and then some more, to pulverize her enemies if the need for defense ever arose.

Her Mystic Falls' house was no exception.

Even before she knew the idyllic town wasn't what appeared at first impression, she'd set a very impressive and impenetrable – if she said so herself – collection of wards around the house and the three hectares of land attached to it. And, well, after she'd found out about all the batshit crazy supernatural problems this town attracted, she'd made sure to reinforce the initial wards – adding some special protections especially designed for vampires – and upgrade the defense mechanisms to the point that she could set instantly on fire anyone who dared to set foot inside her property without her said so.

So, of course, she knew about the two vampires walking towards the perimeter of her land – and that none of them was Caroline, as she had been keyed into the wards the same night Aria had saved her life – but she'd let them get inside her property and made their way towards her front door.

Considering the fact that Stefan had learned about her magic a couple of nights before, the vampires on her front yard could only be the Salvatore brothers and she was very eager to have a proper confrontation with them, especially the older one, Damon.

She could accept – and, grudgingly, understand – Caroline's desire to no seek revenge. But Damon Salvatore had hurt someone Aria cared about. Her magical ward. Her family. And she could never forgive that. It just wasn't in her nature to do so.

Maybe if the two brothers had waited sometime before confronting her, she wouldn't be itching for a fight. To make Damon pay. But a couple of days were not enough to cool her explosive and legendary temper. She was still oh so very pissed. And the fact that the brothers had chosen to come to her – to her house – made it all the more perfect. Here, inside the wards she'd designed herself, nobody would get the upper hand from her. Here, she held all the cards on her hand. And they even didn't know about it.

So she let them got inside her land and walk all the way to her porch. And, a moment later, the bell rang.

"Does mistress want Kreacher to deal with the disgusting half-breeds?" the elf asked, sneering in the direction of the front door while wielding a frying pan and a long knife in each of his skinny hands like he was readying himself for a fight to the death. Knowing Kreacher's blood-thirsty tendencies and abilities, if there was ever a fight between him and vampire then she would bet all her money on her elf.

"Don't worry, Kreacher. I can handle it."

"Is mistress sure?" the elf insisted, staring longingly at his knife and making it very clear that he was itching to kill some vampires on his own too. Not like she was planning on killing someone or anything. It was just an expression, of course.

Aria forced herself to suppress her smile, she needed to look professional and composed. Nothing could give her away until it was the right moment. "Yes, Kreacher." The bell rang once more "And, please, hide no matter what. I don't want them to know about you."

The old house-elf put out expression was eerily similar to Teddy's. "As mistress wishes" he sighed, and then he promptly popped out of the room.

Fondly rolling her eyes, she made calmly her way to her front door, knowing whoever was outside couldn't hear anything that was happening inside the house. Smoothing her expression into one of cool indifference, she opened her door and was met with two familiars, and pretty much expected, faces.

"Hello there, gorgeous. Fancy meeting you here." Damon Salvatore said, smirking seductively in her direction.

Not even all her years learning under Augusta Longbottom about how to act like a lady of her station – because Merlin forbid the Lady of two Noble and Most Ancient Houses so much as sneezed in public – could have prevented her from rolling her eyes at such a blatant pick-up line. Of course, nobody could deny Damon's physical attractiveness and she supposed he caught the attention of the teenager population with his stereotypical bad boy persona, but if he used that kind of lines on actually grown-ups and they fell for it then she'd severely overestimated the intelligence of the people in this town.

"Am I supposed to swoon or something?" she asked, lifting an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Only if you don't mind falling into my arms" Damon said, winking.

Aria scoffed. "Do these lines actually work on people?" she couldn't help but ask, genuinely curious, to the younger brother, who was wearing an impressive exasperated face.

"Unfortunately" Stefan confessed, pained.

At the same time, the older brother said "Of course they work. Have you seen me, princess? I'm a catch." he said, leaning into her conspiratorially and oozing the kind of self-importance that reminded her of more than one uppity pure-blood jerk back home.

"Personally, I can't see the appeal" she said indifferently, giving Damon a bored once over and meeting his eyes once more, daring him to say something. "All I see is an immature boy with zero charm and a black color fetish. Not even the face is that pretty."

The way his jaw clenched and his eyes flashed with irritation, only to disappear a moment later when his younger brother shot him a look, told her more about him than he probably realized. Because in those few seconds, she'd got to see the barely restrained predator that hid under the surface, always ready to come out at the least sign of something not going according to his plans. He'd quite the temper, this vampire, and he didn't have total control over it.

She could use that.

"But where are my manners? You're probably here for a reason. Please, come in." she said deliberately, smiling with perfect politeness to mask her smugness over the fact that she'd fooled them into believing something as unreliable and fickle as an invitation to come to her house was the key to get inside.

Damon's eyes flashed with triumph at her words and she'd to put all her energy on maintaining her face even, not letting him on the fact that he'd fallen on her trap and no the other way around. In contrast, Stefan regarded her with wary suspicion, like he knew it couldn't be that easy but he wasn't sure where the catch was. She only smiled innocently in response, guiding them into the living room, where she let herself fall into her favorite armchair without a care in the world. A moment later, both brothers took their seats in front of her.

"Well then, please tell me why you decided to upset my morning plans and grace me with your unwanted presence" Aria said, and looking directly at Stefan she added "I thought I made it clear that I don't want anything to do with you."

Stefan looked a little apologetic as he avoided her gaze. His brother just looked unrepentant, smirking flippantly in her direction. "Yeah, you see, I don't believe that indifferent act for a second. You're a witch, a servant of nature and all that blah blah blah. It's impossible you don't care about the unholy terror Katherine is going to wreck in this town, Miss London"

Ignoring pretty much everything else he said, Aria focused on the one thing that sounded familiar. "Katherine? Wasn't she the one who killed Caroline?"

"Yeah." Stefan said, his face grave "Katherine is a very old, dangerous, and powerful vampire who sees everyone as a pawn of her game and won't hesitate to take any life if it benefits her."

"She's a bitch and we hate her" Damon added, helpfully.

"And you're telling me this because…?"

The brothers exchange a quick look before turning her attention back to her. "We're hoping you could help us to take her out" Stefan said carefully, probably knowing he was treading on uncharted waters and any mistake could be fatal. "I know you said you don't care about us but you clearly care about other people's lives, otherwise you wouldn't have helped Caroline that night of the carnival or saved our lives from Mason the other night… Katherine is a very dangerous threat to the people of this town."

What followed was an unnecessary but informative explanation of how both brothers met and fell in love with Katherine in 1864, how they got killed and turned trying to save her life, how they met Elena the year before and how shocked they'd been about the fact that she looked exactly the same as the older vampire – and if that wasn't rooted on some magical spell or something, she would eat her old socks – and what happened when the tomb was opened and the vampires got out, as well as Katherine's machinations and constants threats towards Elena and her loved ones.

Basically, they explained in depth all the messes they'd been in the last six months, most of which she'd already been aware in some capacity due to their inability to keep a bloody secret.

However, what really caught her attention, was Katherine's actions. The vampire was clearly sly, cunning, and very intelligent, capable of masterfully orchestrating her own fake death and sentence her allies to an eternity of suffering as a means to an end. And it didn't make any sense that she would throw all that away and came back to the same town in which she faked said death just because she wanted to torment a human girl with her same face. It couldn't even be about Stefan or Damon because if she really wanted to be with them, she would have let them know she was alive a long time ago. Which meant there'd to be more on the story, something else everyone was missing because they were too focused on protecting Elena. The only question was what.

"While the history lesson has been mildly entertaining, I still don't see why I should help you"

Damon growled, his whole face contorting into a rare mix of viciousness and a bit of mockery. "Are you deaf, Morgana le Fay? We just told you how dangerous Katherine is."

"Yes, she's as dangerous as any other experienced and old vampire." She pointed out, plainly "But if you think I'm going to let myself be used in your petty little vampire affair just because Elena Gilbert's life is in danger then you're clearly delusional. As far as I'm concerned, her life isn't worth the effort."

Perhaps not so surprisingly, Damon shot up to his feet after hearing her words, baring his teeth at her threateningly, proving her that he was in love with his brother's girlfriend. A girl with the same face as his former lover, the one who had played with his and his brother's affections in a game that had ultimately lead to their deaths. How pathetic.

"Damon" Stefan warned, also getting to his feet and restraining his brother from jumping towards her with both hands. But even if he seemed to be trying to act rational, she caught the way his whole body was tensed and the fire burning on his clear green eyes. Stefan was furious too.

Good.

"No, no, let him go, Stefan. I'm dying to see what's he's going to do" Aria mocked, still comfortably seated and smiling tauntingly in the direction of the more volatile Salvatore brother. "Show me your real self, Damon. Show me the vampire that killed dozens of townspeople without hesitation, basking on the chaos he brought. Show me the monster who used an innocent young girl for blood and sex without any kind of hesitation…. Let me see the true face of the pathetic vampire who is in love with his younger brother's human girlfriend."

Apparently, the dig about his feelings for Elena was all she truly need to say for him to lose completely his temper. Damon snarled, his vampire appearing as he flashed towards her, pushing his younger brother aside without second thought.

"Damon, no!"

The older brother didn't even get the chance to lay a hand on her. Before he reached her, the wards on the house were activated against the imminent threat towards her life and Damon fell to the ground, twisting and crying out in pain as the wards inflicted on him excruciating pain, the equivalent of three combined cruciatus curses. From her seat, Aria stared at him dispassionately, mentally counting the time.

"Stop!" Stefan cried, rushing towards her at vampire speed.

Without looking at him, she simply lifted her hand and sent him flying to the other side of the room. Her quarrel wasn't with him. He'd no right to interfere. Not when he'd stood aside and done nothing before, only interfering when Elena was involved in some way.

When she reached one hundredth and thirty seconds on her mental count, she stood up and canceled the curse on Damon with a mental order. "You've got some nerve to come here and demand my help to kill another vampire for you…." she observed, walking towards the vampire still shaking on her carpet. "What gives you the right to judge another when your hands are just as bloody? What made you think I would help the person that abuse my only friend in this Merlin-forsaken town?"

"Really?" Damon spat, lifting his head to stare defiantly at her "All this is just for Blondie?"

Aria lifted an eyebrow, not dignifying him with an answer as she silently wondered if the vampire in front of her even knew the true meaning of things like friendship and loyalty.

"Please, Aria. Elena is one of Caroline's oldest friends" Stefan piped as he slowly made his way towards them. "She would be heartbroken if something happens to Elena."

"I was already aware of that friendship" she said, darkly amused by his pathetic attempt to manipulate her feelings on the matter. "And I'm still don't care about your girlfriend's life."

"If you're always this much of a bitch, it's no wonder your only living family chose to put an ocean between the two of you" Damon taunted, smirking maliciously "Then again, with that bitchy attitude, it's no wonder you get on with Blondie"

She scoffed. "You know, I keep trying to see the appeal in you but all I can see is a big disgusting pig. The only thing missing is a tail and nose to match." And, without giving him time to think on her words, she waved her hand on his direction and watched in satisfaction as Damon's nose morphed to become a big pig's nose and the back of his trousers broke as his new tail grew. As a bonus, she changed the color of his clothes to bright, garish pink.

Stefan's jaw fell open as he stared wide-eyed to his brother. And Damon let out a hilarious squeak as he jumped from one side to the other after feeling the new additions on his body. He turned towards her, blue eyes burning and looking downright murderous. "YOU-"

"Let's make something clear, right now I'm actually playing nice… But if you hurt or threaten Caroline in any way, I'll come after you without hesitation. And when I do, you'll be wishing for your deaths. Because I don't believe in quick deaths when someone has wronged the people I care about." She declared and, for the first time, she let her voice carry the hot fury coursing through her veins. "Now, I think you've extended your welcome long enough." And with another wave of her hand, she sent the two vampires flying outside, where they fell in an undignified pile on the ground.

"Bitch! Change me back!" Damon hollered, getting up and running towards the entrance of her house once more, only to be sent back flying ten feet away because of the wards.

"It's pretty funny how you actually thought I was going to give you free access to my house" Aria smiled, mentally raising another protection on the shields of her wards. "Goodbye, gentleman. I hope we don't see each other anytime soon." And she watched in amused satisfaction as the two brothers – Damon yelling profanities all the while – were dragged by an invisible hand to outside the edge of her property. They would never be able to get inside again without her explicit consent.

With a relaxed sigh, Aria closed her door. It was over. Her warning had been delivered. Whatever happened next, it would be on them.

"What do you think, Kreacher?"

"Mistress should have killed them" the elf answered promptly, popping at her side "Filthy half-breeds daring to insult and attack my glorious mistress. Oh, how Kreacher whishes mistress had allowed him to give them a lesson with his knife."

Aria snorted, picturing perfectly well what Kreacher would have done with said knife. "It's a pity the transformation won't last long" A couple of days at most, depending on how much blood Damon drank to accelerate the healing process. "I would have loved to take a picture or two." For Teddy and Caroline's amusement, of course… And maybe made a copy for her personal collection.

"Mistress doesn't have to worry" her elf said, producing a camera out of nothing "Kreacher will take care of that"

She beamed at him, big and delighted, as she understood the meaning of his words. "I swear, you're the best house-elf ever!"


&&&/03/&&&


There was something about keeping an eye on your prey while they went on with their lives, completely ignorant of the risk they were in, that never ceased to thrill Katherine. It was an electrifying kind of rush, the knowledge that she was the only one in control of the situation, the one with the power to make others bow at her will. And at that moment, as she silently watched how Caroline went back to her house after spending her morning on her school, Katherine knew the perfect moment to make her presence known had finally arrived.

She stayed in the shadows, listening to how Caroline curse under her breath as she tried to call her witchy friend, only for the call to be rejected and sent to voicemail. With a curse, the blonde vampire called again, as she'd done, over and over again, for the last fifteen minutes. It was becoming horribly tiresome.

"C'mon… Pick-up the damn phone, Bonnie…. You can't ignore me forever, I'm one of your closest friends." Caroline growled, throwing herself onto her bed without even realizing there was someone else in the room with her.

It was so delightfully perfect.

"Witches, always so judgy, right?" Katherine commented, sauntering into the room with deliberate steps.

To her mild surprise, Caroline reacted faster than she'd expected. In an instant, she jumped out of her bed, crossed her room, and tried to jump from the open window. But Katherine was faster, blocking her way out before she could escape.

"Tut, tut. That's no way to treat a guest" she taunted with a smirk, enjoying the way Caroline backed away from her slowly, eyeing her warily.

"What do you want, Katherine?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure how you were doing… you know, since I killed you" She said, her tone casual and a bit friendly, sounding almost like she was chatting with a friend. "And I've been so bored lately that I thought I should pay you a visit… Maybe even finish what I started in that hospital. This time for real."

She'd been planning this for days. To come here and threaten Caroline into submission. Force her into becoming her little spy in Elena's group. Her little pawn and hand-made sacrifice for Klaus. However, to her ever-growing annoyance, her plans had taken a lot more time than she'd previously expected because Caroline had gone off the radar for days and hadn't slept in her house since the day she'd been turned. What made it all the more aggravating, was the fact that Katherine had no idea where the blonde had been spending her nights and a good part of her days. But she didn't have the time to be tracking down a baby vampire who, in the grand scale of things, wasn't even remotely significant. Luckily, before Katherine had lost completely her patience and decided to just kill the annoying blonde the next time she saw her, Caroline had come out of whatever little shit-hole she'd been hiding all these days.

"Are you here to kill me?" the blonde asked carefully, her blue eyes shining with something she didn't understand.

"Oh, don't worry. As long as you keep me entertained, you'll be safe… If you don't, well, things would end up very messy, if you know what I mean."

Caroline swallowed, understating the clear threat. And even if Katherine could clearly see the fear shining in her eyes, the blonde stood still and annoyingly composed. "What do you want, Katherine?" she repeated, staring right into her eyes.

Katherine lifted an eyebrow, amused by the little act of defiance. "Oh, nothing special… I just want to have fun. You are going to help to have some fun with Elena and the Salvatore brothers."

She expected crying pleads or fearful denials after the blonde understood exactly what she wanted from her. What she didn't expect was the way Caroline's expression hardened after hearing her words, her eyes shining with a strange sort of grim determination. "No" she said resolute, still infuriatingly calm and composed "I won't help you. You can hurt me and even kill me if that's what you want but I won't be another pawn in your games… I refuse to be used by anyone ever again."

Katherine laughed. "It's that so?" And, without giving her any warning, she let her vampire face surface as she snarled at the blonde, flashing towards her with the intention of broke her spine, over and over again, for daring to defy her.

She hadn't expected to be sent flying back by a shield vibrating with sheer magical power, wasn't even prepared for it, but she hadn't survived so many centuries on the run for nothing. She landed on her feet, at the other side of the room, staring at Caroline in shock. For the first time, not feeling in control of the situation. "That's not wiccan magic. How...?" She stopped talking as she remembered who was living in Mystic Falls. Even centuries later, Ingrid was known to have been one of the strongest wand-wielders witches on the history of the wizarding community. But if she'd been reborn with her powers, why hadn't she made herself known before? Why now? "Why, out of everyone in this miserable town, did she choose you to be under her protection?" she wondered out loud, infuriated.

The way Caroline's eyes opened in surprise and alarm was all the confirmation she needed. The blonde knew. Knew about wand-wielders and the magical community, at least enough to know they were supposed to be a secret that shouldn't be spoken. Most importantly, she knew Aria Black was a wand-wielder witch.

Caroline was under Ingrid's reincarnation protection.

And Katherine couldn't go against her. Not when she needed Ingrid's reincarnation to guarantee her freedom. To get on Klaus's good side.

"This is your lucky day" she spat, glaring towards the silent blonde.

Without saying anything else, she turned and flashed out of the house. She needed to consider carefully this. But, more importantly, she needed to change her plans. And quick.


&&&/03/&&&


"And she just left after that?" Aria asked, pacing along her living room as her mind raced with everything Caroline had just told her.

"Yeah" the blonde nodded, biting her lower lip with nervousness "Aria, it was like she…."

"…knew about me" She completed because, yeah, she'd already thought about it "And the existence of the magical community"

And as she thought about it, she remembered something she hadn't thought twice about, not with everything else that went down that day. "Caroline, did you ask Elena to take pictures of the committee for you the day of the carnival?"

"Of course not" she scoffed "I needed Elena to stay focused on managing the carnival. I wasn't about to split her focus with another task…. Why?"

Aria closed her eyes with resignation as her mind connected the pieces. "Because someone who looked exactly like Elena took a picture of me, saying she was doing it for you."

"…and you think it was Katherine masquerading herself as Elena once more. But why? Why would she need a picture of you?"

"She probably knows who I am"

It was the only thing that made sense. It explained why Katherine had taken a picture of her and why she'd backed away from Caroline when she'd understood she was under her protection. After all, everyone in the magical world knew how powerful she was. But, at the same time, it didn't make sense at all. If Katherine truly knew she was Aria Potter – the famous Girl-Who-Conquered – then something should have happened by now. She'd a picture of her, one that proved she still looked seventeen at the age of twenty-nine. With that picture in her possession, she could have tried to blackmail or threaten her. Or worse, she could have sold that information to the biggest bidder. But it had been almost two weeks and nothing had happened. Why? What game was this vampire playing? And how did she fit in the puzzle?

"I don't understand. What do you mean when you said Katherine knows who you are?" Caroline demanded, frowning in confusion "And why are you so focused on that? I thought you would be more worried about the fact that she knows about the wizarding world. You know, the one you told me no one should know about?"

"Because I'm pretty sure she was turned before 1692 and that means she's incapable of telling someone else about the existence of the magical world"

"What?! What are you talking about, Aria? Nothing you're saying makes any sense"

She sighed. This was it, wasn't it? It was time to tell Caroline the truth. And wow, she didn't even where to start. It was such a long story, one that started centuries before either of them were born. But she needed to tell her, Caroline deserved the truth. After all, it affected both of their lives.

"Okay" She said, nodding to herself "I'm going to tell you a story, a long one. So make sure you're comfortable because once I start, I probably won't be able to stop until the end."

Caroline lifted both of her eyebrows, visibly surprised, but obediently sat on one of the couches.

"So… have you ever wondered where all those stories about wizards, vampires, dragons, fairies, and other magical creatures come from? If the non-magical people never knew anything about the magical world, how come they have so many books, legends, and stories about us?" Aria asked, knowing this was a good beginning for her tale.

"I don't know. I suppose I never thought much about it." Caroline answered, frowning.

"It's because, for most of the history of humankind, the magical and non-magical worlds coexisted as one without the need of secrecy, and most of those stories were based, at least in part, on the real thing."

"That's incredible" Caroline gushed for a moment, excited. But she must have seen the grimace on her face because she tilted her head to the side, considering. "What changed though? Why the magical world is a secret now?"

Aria pursed her lips, trying to find the gentlest way to explain this to someone who had been a muggle up until two weeks before, someone whose life was still firmly rooted on the muggle world. "The first thing you've to remember is that history has proved, time and time again, that humans tend to fear the things that they don't understand. The things that are different. And the magical and non-magical people had never been able to really understand one another. So, for as long as it'd been recorded, our people coexisted feeling wary and afraid… and maybe even a little hateful towards those that weren't like them. Using every opportunity to start all sorts of conflicts. And, over time, it created an invisible line that divided the magical and non-magical people."

"But that doesn't seem right. We're all humans." Caroline argued. "Nobody should think like it's us versus them."

She couldn't help but smile at those words, appreciating the blonde's kind nature. "Well, as I said, it's part of human nature and there not much you and I can do about it… Anyway, back to the story, this invisible line meant that, slowly, those that considered themselves as a part of the magical world started to distance themselves from the non-magical one, creating places that were accessible only for those who had magic... And here it's important you keep in mind that wiccan witches have always been firmly considered as non-magical people because the magic they use isn't their own… In any case, it the mist of all this, the original vampires appeared in the world."

"What?! What do you mean with original vampires?!"

Aria shrugged. "Exactly like it sounds. The original vampires are the first five vampires in existence. From them, the entire vampire race was created."

Caroline's mouth fell open.

"Think about it. You were turned with Damon's blood. He was turned with Katherine's, who was turned with some other vampire's blood. And so on until you reach a vampire that was turned with the blood of one of the originals." She explained, gesturing with her hands in an effort to explain it better.

"Are you seriously telling me that the entire vampire race was started by these five originals?"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Wow. And do you know how…?"

Aria was shaking her head before Caroline could finish her question, already knowing what she wanted to know. "Nobody knows how they came to be. The only thing we know for sure is that, over a thousand years ago, the five original vampires and the Immortal Witch came in contact with the founders of the first magical school in Europe. And from that moment on, the vampire race started to spread around the world."

"Wait… Immortal Witch?"

"She's one of the most important magical figures in our history" she revealed, thinking back of all the books in which the immortal witch had been mentioned in one way or another "Like with the originals, we don't know anything of her prior her first contact with founders of Hogwarts – that's the name of the school by the way – but after that, there are records of her in almost every magical community in the world. She lived for centuries after all."

Caroline gaped. "Really?"

"Sure. Where do you think the title of Immortal Witch came from?" she asked, amused "There are a lot of different stories about her but what every single one of them has in common is that she's described as a forever young and beautiful witch, who was ridiculously powerful and inventive, as well as kind enough to take under her wing young witches and wizards. More importantly, none of the stories fail to mention that she was always surrounded by the original vampires as she seemed to consider them as her family. Some stories even say that she was married to one of them but who knows. She died centuries ago."

"Do you know how she died?" the blonde asked, her eyes alight with curiosity "I mean, you said she was a powerful witch who lived for centuries and was as good as family with the original vampires so…. How someone like her dies?"

Aria grimaced. Here it came, one of the most important parts of the story. "Okay, so you've to understand that the immortal witch was respect – if not loved – by the magical communities around the world. For them, she was a living legend, a symbol, and an icon… But she was also pretty feared by the non-magical people who knew of her magical abilities. For them, she was the living representation of the unnatural. A threat that needed to be deal with." She paused, letting her words sink in before continuing. "Nobody knows for sure how it happened but what we know is that, in 1652, she was betrayed by the wiccan witches and the non-magical people of the village she was living in... The captured her, somehow blocked her magic, stabbed her six times, and finally burned her alive."

"That's awful" Caroline gasped, her shaking hand covering her open mouth.

"It was." she agreed, because dying by betrayal was a sad end for someone who had been so great "What's worse, her death was the beginning of a long and bloody conflict between the magical and non-magical world… As I told you, she was respected by the magical communities. Not only by wizards and witches but by vampires, goblins, centaurs, and a lot of other magical creatures because, by all accounts, she was kind to everyone she met. And her death shocked and horrified all of them. It spread hate and fear, which cemented the line between us and them. Only this time, instead of putting distance, the response was violence. Muggles were captured, tortured, and killed for sport… And, in return, groups of non-magical people organize themselves and hunted down everything they thought had a little bit of magic in them. It didn't matter if they were wizards, unicorns, centaurs, vampires, or any other creature. It didn't matter if they were young or old, or even if they were innocent or not. If you were connected to magic in some way, you were hunted down and killed."

Caroline's face was paled, her expression sad but her eyes were glistening with grim understanding. "That's why the magical world became a secret, isn't it?"

Aria nodded. "For all that we've magic in our side, we're massively unnumbered and thousands of lives were lost. And so, in 1689, the leaders of the different magical communities around the world gathered and decided that enough was enough. Our worlds couldn't coexist anymore, at least not in the open, and so the International Statute of Secrecy was created…. Basically, the Statute said that the magical world needed to be secret, and, for that to happen, the non-magical people needed to forget about our existence. So, in a historical and pretty much unique event, every magical creature who could actively use their magic, including wizards and witches, pull together their magic to create a very, very, very powerful spell that was cast in 1692 and erased the belief of our world from all the non-magical people, making them think that everything they knew about our world was a fantasy."

"Wiccan witches were not included in the Statute, right? They forgot about the magical world too." At her nod, Caroline bit her lip as she contemplated something on her head. "And what about vampires?"

"I was waiting for you to ask about it" Aria admitted, smiling slightly "The situation of the vampire race was a complicated one because the vast majority of them live in the muggle world and because of that there were some people who thought they should forget too. At least, until the original vampires intervened and put forward a proposal that the majority considered acceptable."

Caroline blinked, surprised. "The originals were invited to that meeting?"

"I told you they are the first of your race and, therefore, also the strongest. Some even say they are indestructible. They may not carry titles like kings and queens but they're the default leaders of your kind. So yeah, they were invited… And they proposed the creation of a spell that used their respective magical connection with each of their bloodlines to force all the vampires in existence, up until that moment, to keep in secret the magical world from everyone who didn't already know about it."

"What?! I don't… What's a bloodline? And what do you mean with magical connection?"

"A bloodline is formed by all the vampires who were sired, however indirectly, with the blood of one of the originals. For example, in your case, your bloodline is the same as the Salvatore brothers, Katherine and whoever else was turned with that blood" Aria said, trying to be as clear as possible "And all the vampires that are from the same bloodline share a magical link, connecting them to their respective original… From what I know, the link can't be felt by a vampire but is there, tethering all the vampires in existence to the originals."

"That sounds… unbelievable" Caroline said, looking a little freaked out. "But, anyway, you said they used this creepy connection to force all the vampires to keep the secret?"

She nodded. "A spell was created to use this connection to basically put a lock on the minds of every vampire, preventing them from speaking about the magical world to anyone who didn't already know about it. The only thing that wasn't locked was anything exclusively pertinent to the existence of the vampire race."

"… Wait, you said the spell worked for every vampire turned up until that point. But what happens with all the vampires that were turned after?" What about me? Caroline didn't say but might as well, with how easy it was to read her thought from her expression.

"Well, you've to understand those kinds of spells – the ones used on the vampires and the muggles – are very, very complex. They don't work for the future. They affect everyone alive in that precise moment of time. But everyone who is born or turn after wasn't going to be affected by it. Which is the reason why every magical government was tasked with the responsibility of making sure the secret was kept secret… In that regard, the originals decided that any future vampire that came across the magical should abide by the laws dictated by the respective government" Seeing the confusion on Caroline's face, Aria added "It's a bit like this. By law, vampires are considered magical creatures and every vampire that knows about the magical world is welcome in it. But… if the vampire doesn't know about the magical world then we let them live in ignorance. We're only forced to tell them the truth if they come across proof of the magical community."

"That's why you don't want to use your wand around Stefan and Damon" Caroline realized, blue eyes shining with understanding "You don't want them to be on the secret."

Aria shrugged, unapologetic. "The government has modern ways to make sure vampires don't go spilling the secret of our world. But once they are told, that's it, they're a part of it…. And I'm sorry, I know you consider Stefan a friend, but I don't trust him or his brother with the great and terrible things my people can do with magic."

To her mild surprise, Caroline didn't seem upset about her words. If anything, she seemed perfectly amicable with it. "It's okay. Having an idea of what your kind can do, I don't think I would trust them either with access to it." Caroline paused, contemplative. "And I guess that answers my question about why you're not worried over Katherine's knowledge of the magical word… You think she'd already been turned by the time the Statute was put in place."

She nodded. "For what you told me, she was very careful about what she said. And only someone with some prior knowledge of the magical world would have understood what she was saying… Besides, she met the Salvatore's in 1864, and she was an already old vampire by then. So no, I'm not worried about her telling someone about our world."

"But you're worried about her knowing who you are" Caroline reminded her, eyes sharp "Do you mind explaining that one?"

Well, she should have expected that one. And it wasn't like she was planning to hide the truth from Caroline, not anymore at least. "Okay… but first, you need to know a little more about our history." She chuckled at the blonde's unimpressed look. "Trust me, this is very relevant…. So, you've to understand the Statute of Secrecy made something palpably clear for the magical world: Non-magical people are not the same as us. Not only because we don't have the same traditions and beliefs but for their inability to accept magic. Because of them, we were forced to hide and became a secret on a planet that also belong to us. And that knowledge caused a lot of apathy towards the muggle world, their affairs and pretty much their lives in general. But it also generated a lot of resentment and hate towards anything that was related in some way to the muggle world, including the wizards and witches who were born from non-magical parents."

"Why?" Caroline asked, aghast "Those witches and wizards have the same magic as the rest of you, why it matters if their parents aren't magical as well?"

"I never understand it either." Aria admitted because, even almost twenty years later, she was still baffled that some people cared so much about something as unimportant as blood. "But anyway, around forty years ago in Great Britain, a very powerful dark wizard, named Lord Voldemort, started a war to get rid of everyone who was somehow connected to those of non-magical blood. For him and his followers, if you were a muggle, you were so inferior that your life didn't have value. If your parents weren't magical, you were filth who didn't deserve to live. And if you opposed him in any way, you were branded a traitor who needed to die… Before anyone was prepared, there was an all-out war between everyone who followed Voldemort and everyone on the light side who thought his ideas and methods were despicable."

"For the record, I'm in full support of the light side" Caroline pointed out, brow furrowed with disgust "I can't believe people actually followed this Lord Voldemort person. His ideas sound all kinds of awful."

"They were. Very, very much so. And a lot of people, on both sides, lost their lives because of it." Aria sighed, knowing the most important part was coming "Anyway, by 1980, the light side was pretty much losing. Voldemort's followers had successfully infiltrated the government, most of the population was too scared to do anything and a lot of good and important families from the light side had been killed. And in that context, a prophecy was made. It was foretold that a baby with the power to finally kill Voldemort and end the war was going to born… Can you guess who this baby was?"

For a long moment, Caroline just frowned in confusion, as she tried to figure out the answer. But then her expression cleared and she stared at her, wide-eyed and mouth open. "…you?" she asked in a whisper, her expression horrified.

"Yeah" she confirmed, her mouth twisting into a grimace just by thinking about the bloody thing. "My parents were killed when I was a baby because I was the child of the prophecy. The bloody chosen one … By the time I was seventeen, I'd survived more than most people do on several lifetimes. Not only that but I also was the default leader of the light side and one of their best fighters… And I would like to say that I did my best and I've no regrets but, by Merlin and Morgana, that would be a bloody lie because you've no idea how many people I lost to the war." Ignoring Caroline's compassionate look, Aria took a deep breath in an effort to calm the dull ached in her heart as she thought about every single one of them. "Anyway, the damn prophecy was right. In 1998, I fought Voldemort and killed him, ending the war for good."

Caroline gaped, astonished. "In 1998?! But… That's…. You…." The blonde swallowed, studying her with new eyes, like she was seeing her for the first time. "How old are you?"

"I'm going to be thirty at the end of July" she admitted with a causal smile "And before you ask, no. It isn't normal for witches and wizards to not age. Our magic allows us to live longer than muggles but we age and die like any other mortal. Or, at least, that's what it's supposed to happen… My messed up situation is a very unique case. It's the result of something that happened by the end of the war, something that should have killed me but didn't. And I didn't think much about it, at least not until years had gone by and I realized that my aging process had stopped completely. After that, I decided to leave behind the magical world in an effort to keep my situation a secret."

"But why keep it a secret?" Caroline demanded in confusion "You won a war. You're a hero for your people. If they knew you've stopped aging, they're going to accept you! Just like they accepted the immortal witch all those centuries ago"

Aria shook her head, rejecting the idea immediately. "You see, that's the thing. I don't want that. I've been famous in my world since I was a baby, I know what's like to be the center of their attention. To carry their expectations and hopes in my shoulders. To live for them. I know what's like to be their savior… And I don't want that. All I ever wanted was to have a normal life. And if I'd stayed and told the truth, I never would have had a moment of peace."

"I'm sorry for everything you went through" Caroline said, her blue eyes sad "And I'm so sorry you were forced to leave your world and everyone you loved behind just because you wanted some peace and happiness. You deserve better than that."

"It's okay, Caroline." She promised, smiling. "Besides, I didn't leave everyone I loved behind. Teddy and Kreacher have always been with me. And my best friends visit me all the time."

"Teddy? Your little brother? Wait. He can't be your brother. Not after what you said about your parents…. Who is he?"

"My son" The way Caroline's jaw dropped and her eyes bulged out their sockets was hilarious. "Well, adopted son. His parents named me his godmother and they died on the war so I took custody of him and later adopted him."

"Wow…. Wow… I wasn't expecting that. Like at all." She said slowly, shaking her head in incredulity. As the seconds passed, her expression turned contemplative "Is your name really Aria Black? Or is that another part of your cover story?"

"My real name is Aria Dorea Potter-Black" she said, smiling "By the way, it's a pleasure to properly meet you."

The girl huffed a laugh. "I could say the same… As long as you don't drop on me another huge revelation bomb." Aria grimaced and Caroline groaned, incredulous "Seriously?!"

"I've one more revelation. I promise that it's the last one." Aria said, giving her best puppy eyes.

Caroline sighed, smiling reluctantly. "Well then, go on"

"There's this thing called magical guardianship. It's a bond made by Lady Magic herself. It binds two people to make them guardian and ward. Family. And the night of the carnival, after I saved your life, Lady Magic bonded the two of us like that." Seeing the way the blonde gaped at her, Aria hurried to add "I know this a little crazy. But I want you to know that I'm very happy Lady Magic choose you to be my family, Caroline."

For a long and tense moment, as she stared at Caroline's frozen expression, Aria feared the girl would decide to reject the bond. But then stiffness in Caroline's expression melted away, becoming shy and hopeful instead. "You said we're family now… Does that mean you can be my sister?"

Aria beamed, elated. "I'll be honored to be your sister… Welcome to the Potter-Black family, Caroline Forbes."


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