Hope giggled as Ryan scooped her into his arms.

"We need to finish unpacking," Hope protested. "I've got classes in the morning."

"Unpacking can wait. And you don't need to be unpacked to go to class." Ryan laid Hope on the bed and knelt beside her.

"This will all just be waiting for me when I get out of class."

"You don't trust me to put your clothes into drawers?" he teased.

Sitting up, Hope pulled his t-shirt off over his head, then lay back, unable to fight the urge to run her fingers down his chest as Ryan braced himself on his elbows so he could hover above her. He leaned down and kissed her, his tongue sliding into her mouth.

"I love you, Hope." He kissed her again, smiling against her lips.

After a few moments, Ryan pulled away from her mouth and sat back on his heels, staring down at her for a long moment as he chewed on his lower lip, his dark eyes twinkling with mischief. Scooting down the bed, he pressed an open mouthed kiss to the skin exposed by her shirt riding up her above her skirt. He trailed his lips up her stomach as he pushed her shirt towards her head.

Once the shirt was on the floor, Hope tugged his head down so she could kiss him.

"I love you," Hope mumbled against his mouth. She couldn't get enough of him, needed him, desperately.

Before things could go where she wanted them to, someone banged on the door and Hope groaned.

"What?"

"Did someone get rid of the espresso machine?" Alaric demanded. "Like someone tall with dark hair who likes pretending to be other people?"

Ryan started laughing then and hid his face against Hope's neck so Alaric couldn't hear his mirth through the closed door.

"Did you?" Hope whispered.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like coffee."

"Who doesn't like coffee?"

"Me. I actually am a tea drinker."

"Hope?" Alaric's voice drew her attention away from Ryan's mouth on her neck.

"Maybe it broke?" She fought back a whimper when Ryan nipped at the spot beneath her ear.

"It could have been replaced."

"So replace it?" Hope caught the inside of her cheek with her teeth to stifle her moans as Ryan slid his fingers beneath her panties.

"I take it Ryan's not being very helpful, is he?"

Smirking, Ryan tore her panties off to give him better access to her and Hope prayed that the sounds of his fingers plunging into her couldn't be heard.

"He's not a coffee drinker, so he wouldn't know the first thing about the machines required to make it. If you want espresso, get another machine." Hope threw back her head, biting her lip as she rocked against Ryan's hand.

"Tell him thanks for nothing. That machine was brand new." Alaric stomped away.

"You're evil, Ryan Clarke. An evil, evil tease." Hope whined.

"But you can't deny that it feels so good."

Ryan stripped out of his own clothing and then with a sharp thrust, he was fully inside her. To muffle her cries, Hope kissed him hard, but even then, she knew that anyone with good ears could hear them if they listened.

God, she really should have thought this through. She liked having sex with Ryan too much to be around people with good hearing.

"Stop thinking," Ryan growled as he started to move within her.

"Make me." Hope caught his lower lip between her teeth.

"God damn, Hope. I love you."

Hope scraped her nails hard across his back and he groaned.

"Damn you. Damn you," Ryan hissed.

"Turnabout's fair play," Hope said as she hooked her leg higher around his waist, allowing him to penetrate her more deeply.

Ryan swore as he started to pound into her as hard as he could.

"Ryan!" Hope wailed, arching beneath him.

"So good. Damn it, Hope, you feel so good."

Hope bit his neck in effort to silence her cries of pleasure and Ryan moaned into her ear at the pain. Digging her fingers into his back, she clung to her lover, whispering his name over and over again as they writhed against each other.

Finally, it became too much and the coil snapped. As the pleasure crashed over her, she screamed, not caring who might hear them.

When they caught their breath, Ryan rolled onto his side, cradling her against his chest.

"I love you," Hope whispered, running her fingers through his curls.

"You're an incredible woman, Hope Mikaelson." Ryan kissed her cheek softly.

Hope started giggling then.

"What?"

"I'm gonna need to put up a silencing spell so people don't hear us."

After classes that afternoon, Hope found Sebastian abusing the training dummies with his sword. Something about his movements told Hope that he was struggling with some internal dilemma that would be better if he didn't keep it inside.

"You wanna talk about it?" she asked. "Look, if you want to make it here, you need a friend, or at least an ally. And you can talk to me. I won't judge you or think you're less than for whatever your story is."

"How can I believe that?"

"I'm the daughter of Niklaus Mikaelson, the Great Evil, the Original Hybrid. I've got no right to look down on anyone."

Sebastian studied her for a long moment, then finally, he started to talk. "My parents sold me to merchant sailors when I was a child. I ran away at every port and they found me, every time, somehow. And the punishments they devised for me..." he trailed off.

"They were vampires."

"Yes." Sebastian looked down, his mouth working.

"You're not broken, Sebastian. What they did to you, it was horrible, but it's not your fault. You survived and now you've got a chance to make yourself into something better than they wanted you to be."

"I don't know where to start."

"Just be yourself and don't let your past define you. Hell, if my dad could reform, I'd say a pirate can too."

"So, an ally?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Or at least someone to talk to who you know won't judge too harshly."

"Even if I told you I was sleeping with Elizabeth Saltzman?" The expression on his face told her he was looking for a fight, that he wanted her to reject him, to turn away from him in disgust.

"Break her heart, I'll break your face, but no. I won't judge for that."

"Alright, Hope. I'll consider your offer."

"It's okay to be afraid, you know. Just don't let your fear destroy your chances at the life you want."

"I'm not good enough for her. I don't deserve her."

"It's not about what we deserve when it comes to love. The heart wants what it wants and Lizzie cares about you. Don't push her away. You might not feel like you deserve her, but you can fight to become someone you feel worthy of her."

"Thank you, Hope."

"If you ever want to talk, I'll listen."

"I just might take you up on that."

Hope nodded once and then walked away to try to find one of her other friends. Maybe Josie would be willing to talk to her and they could make strides into being best friends again.

A few minutes later, Hope found Josie in the library working on a dark spell with an hourglass sitting nearby.

"That's more than just a dangerous spell," Hope commented as she read over the spell as best she could considering the paper was upside down.

"I know. It's something Vardemus had me working on.

"Two things. One thing, Vardemus isn't headmaster here any longer so I don't think he'd care if it was late, and two, I know more about dark magic than most people do considering I'm from New Orleans, capitol of black magic, and two, I have actual resources if you want them.."

When she was done with this, she was going to spank Ryan at the very least, Hope swore.

"Let me help you put a barrier around it," Hope offered.

"What kind of barrier?"

"An hourglass will break down over time, no matter what you do, but a barrier spell will keep it together for a little longer, at least according to Vincent."

"Who's Vincent?" Josie asked.

"The biological father of my aunt, Freya, and her wife Keelin's, son, my cousin, Nik."

"Why was I selected?"

"Because you're trusting, and far more powerful than you give yourself credit for."

"You think I'm powerful?" Josie asked.

"I know you are. Never doubt that again."

Josie nodded with a slight smile.

"I know a spell that'll keep the hourglass protected for a while," Hope commented.

"How long will the spell hold?"

"Not as long as we need it to, but long enough for us to figure out what to do next."

Inwardly, Hope promised herself that she would punish Ryan. As much as she loved him, how dare he do this to her friends and promise that an hourglass would last indefinitely? Even a new witch knew that it wasn't the case.

"Let's get this as protected as best we can," Josie said.

Kneeling down, Hope held her hands out and Josie took them. Together, the pair chanted a spell to protect the hourglass.

Once they were certain the hourglass was protected, Hope stood up and held out her hand.

"Promise me you won't mess with dark magic any more unless absolutely necessary. You know what it does to you."

"I promise."

"Good." Hope hugged Josie tightly. "If you need any help, you know you can come to me."

The girl might have been her step sister under better circumstances and Hope wished they could be as close as they were before she jumped. Maybe they could get there. But she'd have to come clean about Ryan being Vardemus, or get Ryan to come clean about it if they were going to become close again.

Releasing her, Hope made her way to her bedroom. Something was wrong. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she could feel it, a sense of foreboding.

"Ryan?" she called, looking around.

He'd said that he would be back by now. So why where was he? Before she could do anything to try to find him, she hit the ground, screaming in pain. Someone was trying to hurt Ryan!

"Hope!" Kaleb's voice cut through the pain and Hope realized she was being carried to the bed.

"Ryan. Find Ryan!"

"Josie! Stay with Hope! Lizzie! Come with me!" Kaleb shouted.

Josie pillowed Hope's head on her lap and she ran her fingers through Hope's hair as her body spasmed.

What was happening to Ryan? Who was hurting him and why?

"He'll be okay," Josie kept saying over and over again.

Finally, the pain subsided and Hope sat up slowly.

"Are you okay?" Josie asked.

"The pain's stopped, so I think he's okay." Hope pushed hair hair out of her face and tried to stand up, only to sway on her feet.

"Sit down." Josie helped Hope sit back down on the bed.

"I need to get to him."

"Kaleb and Lizzie will bring him here. He's in good hands," Josie assured her.

Hope nodded and lay back down.

After several long moments, someone knocked on the door and Josie answered it.

"Hope. I'm here." Ryan lay down beside her. "Your friends got me out."

"What happened?" Hope cupped his cheeks and searched his face.

"Someone thought I was still connected to Malivore and wanted to use that for something or other. I don't know what it was exactly. But your spells kept them from being able to do what they wanted."

"They hurt you. I felt it."

"I'm safe now, sweetheart. I'm safe."

"You're not going to leave the grounds without me from now on until we figure out who did this to you and why."

"Okay. I can deal with that, because getting kidnapped wasn't on my list of things to do, ever." He grinned and kissed her softly.

Hope tucked her head under Ryan's chin and wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you," Hope whispered.

Someone knocked on the door and Hope called, "Come in."

Sebastian stood there, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"You said I could come to you if I wanted to talk."

Hope and Ryan sat up so that they were leaning against the headboard and she gestured to the chair beside them.

"I know it's probably selfish of me to come here after what you've been through tonight, but I'm- I-" He shook his head. "I'm scared. I don't- I can't-"

"Breathe, Sebastian."

"Could you put up a silencing spell? I'd rather not have the entire school hear me like this."

Hope nodded and once the silencing spell was in place, Sebastian started to talk.