A/N: Non-gratuitous TRIGGER WARNING for magical plan oriented SELF-HARM. It's NOT a suicidal kind of self-harm, but I understand that it bears enough of a resemblance to be triggering. Please find someone to talk to if you find this distressing.

CHAPTER 4

Back at the Salvatore school, Alaric sat in his chair contemplating the teenager in front of him. He gave a brief nod just as the sun was peaking through the trees' lowest branches. Hope took his cue that their long whammy of a conversation was over. "I'll talk to them. It might sound better coming from me, after all, they're probably more pissed at you right now anyway," Hope drawled as she picked up her sweatshirt she had draped over the back of her chair during hour 4 of their conversation.

Alaric gave a long-suffering sigh before nodding and gathering some papers, doubtlessly a thrown-together lesson plan for the new week. He thought better of it, and picked up his cell phone. "I'm gonna call Caroline back here. This has all escalated so fast, and we'll need all hands on deck until it simmers down. I can't be fighting with Matt while trying to protect everyone, while playing a game of hot potato with that invulnerable dagger."

The young Mikaelson tilted her head in thought, "My family might be showing up soon. I'd be surprised if either Freya or Davina hasn't laid some kind of spell down to alert them to strange and dangerous bullshit around these parts." Before Alaric could protest, she cut him off, "I didn't say anything to them. But after the year my family's had…you can't really blame them for being terrified for me," Hope finished softly.

Alaric just put up his hands in surrender, "At least Caroline gets along with some of them," Hope's expression darkened a smidge as she remembered that it was Klaus that Caroline was close with.

"You should warn Sheriff Donovan to stay away from my family. They take idle threats a lot more seriously now, but they won't start anything unless he does."

Alaric sized up the not even five and a half foot tall girl in front of him. Yep, he could see Klaus in those eyes, but he could also see his long-time friend Hayley. And he knew that Hope was telling the truth.

"They're already coming aren't they? You just wanted to give me a tentative warning so I didn't ah, lose it huh?" Alaric realized.

Hope held up her phone which had a text notification banner displayed. With a small and wholly soft and childlike smile she said, "Aunt Freya and Marcel Gerard are going to be popping in. For what it's worth, they probably won't be here long. If it's all the same to you, I think the terrible twosome and me should be excused from classes and detention today. It'll be a lot for them to process, and I'm going to be running on espresso."

Alaric quickly wrote up the paperwork excusing the three of them and said, "Please be kind with them. I know they haven't treated you super well, especially after I ah…,"

"Nearly lost them a father for my sake? Trust me, I know, and I will. But you need to reassure them that'll never happen again." Hope drawled. Yep, she was still salty with him about his white knight inclinations. "If that dagger killed me, I'd just come back as a god knows what kind of Uber vamp. You would die. Don't die. I'd miss you too. And then the three of us would inevitably resurrect you." On that note, Hope took her leave, flaring her sweatshirt out behind her as her arms found the sleeves. She was out of Alaric's office before he could get in another word.

He sighed and sent Caroline a message he knew she'd be notified of immediately, "Daughters safe, but school is in danger. We need you here. Hope downed a literal dragon the other day, and saved the girls from a spider creature from myth. We might need some heavy-hitters before this is all over. I'm sorry."

Hope left him there as she made her way to the kitchen to fetch a couple glasses, and helped herself to a couple double shots of espresso. A couple minutes later, she found herself outside the door for a second before lightly knocking. She'd rarely felt like such a vampire. Upon nobody coming to the door she let herself in with a quick lock pick spell. Rude, she knew, but she was past giving a shit.

The twins were sharing Lizzie's bed, snuggled together like they'd been since they were seven years old. Even someone as jaded as Hope had to admit they looked adorable.

The redheaded Mikaelson took a seat in the corner of the room while she began mentally preparing herself for the conversation that would happen the moment one of them woke up. She tried to remind herself the plan she came up with after she apologized to Josie last night was just a contingency. But Hope was a Mikaelson, and that meant she'd have to get her shit together.

Things were getting far too dangerous at this school, and even Alaric admitted it. Caroline had been called back from her recruiting scout. Kaleb was fang-raping cheerleaders and apparently threatening the sheriff, mythic monsters were hurting people, and the werewolves were in a tizzy about the Landon and Rafael situation. Hope was of half a mind to go down to the cells and sentence Kaleb to death by werewolf bite herself.

She quickly shook her head. While she hated the way Alaric talked about her dead father, Hope also had to admit the gruff headmaster had a point about her own violent reflexes. She had to at least have a cooler head, like her mother, like Aunties Freya and Keelin. Not like Rebekah or Kol though, they were hot messes where violence was concerned. Hope smiled to herself before her gaze settled on the gently snoring Saltzman twins. It was just after 6am. They'd wake soon. Or, at least Lizzie would, despite not being biologically related to Caroline, those two blondes were always up at ungodly hours in the morning.

Hope had to protect her two friends, even if she barely got along with them at the moment; even though they weren't really all that friendly. The serene moment in the park with Josie was enough for Hope to latch onto…until she accidentally stabbed herself as a direct result of internally acknowledging her crush on the brunette siphoner.

From a harsh and all to realistic standpoint, the three of them were the last line of defence to protect the children at this school. It only made sense they should be as powerful as their adversaries right?

Hope steeled herself and pulled out a paring knife she'd borrowed from the kitchen. She willed her trembling left arm still. The trembling wasn't from fear, but she could feel the caffeine working its wonders. She brought the knife down gently, and experienced one of the rare moments of annoyance at her expedient healing factor.

When both tumblers in front of Hope were filled with a few shots each worth of her tribrid blood, she set them down on Lizzie's nightstand; one bloody cupful for each of the twins. Just a contingency Hope vigorously reminded herself, pushing down the horrors her mind conjured that lead to this plan of hers.

Now all that remained was to wait for Lizzie and Josie to awaken. Hope reached out and summoned one of Josie's Jane Austen novels to her hand. When she opened it however, she was staring down at a very Sapphic-looking graphic novel, Sunstone. Huh, Josie was embarrassed enough about her reading habits to place a glamour on all her books. Hope looked back to the rest of them, wondering what other illicit reading materials were there.

Hope looked up at the sleeping twins and barely suppressed a chuckle. It seems Josie might be more interesting than she'd hoped.

This was going to be a fun conversation.

Hope opened up the red cover and started reading.