Chapter 17

"So," said Damon, later that evening. He and Stefan were sat by the roaring fire, both nursing a glass of bourbon. "Are you going to ask Bon-Bon for help or am I?" Stefan took a long sip of his drink, staring thoughtfully into the flames.

"You should contact her, brother," he replied. Damon nodded and pulled out his mobile phone.

Bon-Bon, need your help. Have a bit of a magical conundrum. Fancy pancakes tomorrow morning? I'll make them just the way you like them

The reply came back almost instantly.

Sure, but only if you promise not to put fangs on the pancakes…

Damon smiled wryly, thinking back to when he and Bonnie had been trapped on the other side. He'd made pancakes every morning for her without fail, and there had started their long friendship.

"Do you think she'll be alright, Damon?" asked Stefan, disturbing his brothers train of thought. Damon looked over to him and sighed deeply. How could he convince his brother if he couldn't even put his own mind at rest?

"She has to be, Stefan," he said slowly, placing his words carefully. "because I don't think I could go back to life without her in it." Stefan just nodded, understanding completely. "She'll talk with Bon-Bon," Damon continued, "and she'll show her how to control her powers so that she can use them when she needs to, and how to stop them taking so much out of her."

"And do we tell the others?" asked Stefan. He trusted his friends completely, but looked to Damon for guidance as to how they should proceed with their latest revelation about Ottilie.

Damon just shrugged. "I don't see why not," he said. "I suppose it's up to Ottilie. It's a lot of her to process and it could be that she wants to keep it to herself for now. We have to respect that." Stefan agreed completely, but still, the biggest question on his mind was yet to come.

"Do we tell her about us, brother?" he asked, in voice barely above a whisper. Sighing heavily, Damon drained the last of his drink and stood up to leave the room. He turned back to answer Stefan, who stared still into the fire.

"I think she has enough to worry about for now" he replied.

The next morning, Bonnie arrived bright and early, a smile across her face as she bounded into the kitchen and saw Damon preparing breakfast. "Morning, Damon!" she said. He raised his eyebrows, not taking his eyes off the pancake mixture he was making.

"You're chirpy," he commented, dryly. Bonnie rolled her eyes at him and laughed.

"Well I'm having breakfast made for me – that hardly ever happens unless I'm trapped somewhere with some pyscho syphner and a grumpy vampire," she teased. He laughed and started cooking the pancakes.

"So what's the problem?" she asked, as she tucked into her breakfast, complete with fangs. Damon leant back against the counter, wondering where to begin.

"We think that Ottilie might be a witch" he said bluntly. Bonnie coughed, almost choking on her pancakes.

"You think what?!" she spluttered. "Why do you think that?" she managed, as Damon handed her a glass of water, smirking at her watering eyes from choking.

"Well since she turned 12, she's been having effects on flames, either putting them out and relighting them, or controlling their movements. I also think she might be able to heal people."

Bonnie stared at him gobsmacked. "But Damon, she's only 12. Witches don't usually come into their powers until they're about 16?" she countered, still in disbelief that the tiny girl she'd come to know and love as Damon's child could be exhibiting powers at such a young age. Then she suddenly remembered; the first time she'd met Ottilie and their hands had touched, she'd felt a spark, much like that she'd feel when she touched any other supernatural being.

Damon shrugged at her. "Well I don't know what to tell you, Bonnie, except that we saw her control the flames, and Stefan and I are pretty convinced that she's healed us both."

Bonnie just nodded, still in shock. "Where is she now? Does she know about any of this supernatural stuff? I'd like to talk to her if she's feeling up to it after the fire?"

Damon stiffened at the mention of the fire. He was still reeling from the horror of that night, of holding his dying child in his arms whilst he desperately tried to breathe life back into her. He was having nightmares of the event and would wake up gasping for air in panic. The only way he could sleep again was to go to Ottilie's room, sit next to her and listen to her quiet, even breathing as she slept. Oh how he relished just the simple sound of her duvet crinkling as it rose and fell with her chest.

He shook his head, trying to get out of that horrible mind set and saw Bonnie looking at him with concern. "Are you okay?" she asked gently. He just nodded.

"Ottilie is upstairs with Stefan. He's helping her get ready, as she's still a little weak. And no, she doesn't know anything about it. Can we just keep it to witches for now? I don't want to overwhelm her." On cue, Stefan and Ottilie entered the kitchen, both smiling as they saw Bonnie, who nodded subtly at Damon.

"Hi Otti! How are you feeling?" Bonnie asked the pale little girl, reaching out for a hug which was gratefully returned.

"I'm feeling better thank you, Bonnie," came the muffled reply from the hug. Bonnie sat the little girl on her knee.

"That's great news, Otti," she replied, warmly. "Now Damon tells me that you've been experiencing some unusual things since your birthday?" she asked, trying to broach the subject as gently as she could, unsure as to how Ottilie would react. The little girl nodded and looked a bit worried. Bonnie quickly moved to reassure her. "It's okay, Ottilie. Strange things happen to me too. I'm going to tell you something now that might be a bit of a shock. I'm a witch, and I think you might be too." Ottilie's eyes opened as wide as saucers as she tried to take in what she had just been told.

"A witch?" she gasped, "Like a magical witch?"

Bonnie chuckled, "Is there any other kind?" she teased gently. Ottilie still looked at her in shock, not knowing what to say. Bonnie could sense this, so she carried on explaining, trying to put the little girl's mind at ease. "I think you'll be able to perform magic spells, and control elements like fire and water. I'm going to teach you how to control it, and how best to use it for good. Is that okay?"

The little girl nodded, in awe that her friend Bonnie was a witch. "Thank you, Bonnie," she whispered. "Are there a lot of witches?" she asked.

Bonnie just shrugged. "There are a few, but I've never met one as tiny as you," she joked. This made Ottilie smile, and Damon felt himself releasing a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Ottilie would be okay, he knew it. With Bonnie to guide and teach her, she'd be more than okay. He smiled warmly at his friend, truly grateful for her kindness and generosity with her knowledge and time.

"Now, Ottilie," she continued. "I would suggest that you don't show anyone at school these powers of yours, okay?"

Ottilie nodded, but didn't understand why.

"Not everyone understands that a witch can use their powers for good, and some of your friends might be scared. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Ottilie shook her head determinedly. She loved her friends, and the thought of scaring them upset her deeply.

"I definitely don't want to scare them," she said. "So only you, me, Damon and Stefan know?"

Damon nodded, and took one of her hands. "If you want to tell any of our adult friends, you can. They all know and understand about witches." Once again, Ottilie's mouth formed a little 'O' as she took in that all of Damon and Stefan's friends knew about witches.

"Can I tell Caroline?" she asked immediately, "ooh and Klaus, and Elijah? And Kol of course!" She hopped down from Bonnie's knee and ran over to Stefan excitedly, hopping from one foot to another.

The Salvatores shared a smile. Their worrying had been for nothing. Ottilie would be just fine.