CHAPTER 3

The house was quiet when Nora arrived home the next morning. There was no sign of Valerie or Damon. Mary Louise was probably still holed up in her room.

Nora sighed as she pushed on the door and nearly walked into the blonde.

Mary Louise gave a start and Nora dropped the book she had been holding.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you." Mary Louise said, bending to pick up the book and handing it back to Nora.

"Thanks." Nora said awkwardly.

"How are you feeling?"

The blonde smiled.

"Better, thank you. Valerie has been helping me and-"

"You can't trust her." Nora interjected.

Mary Louise forced the smile to stay on her face, remembering what Valerie had said about being nice to Nora.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about Valerie for now. I want to know what you remember about...us."

Nora blinked. Had she heard right? Was Mary Lou finally coming around to the notion that her and Nora had actually been together?

"Um...sure, ok."

Nora gestured to the couch and Mary Louise went into the lounge and sat down.

Nora was a little unsure wether it was a good idea to sit next to her or not so she took the chair opposite instead.

"Have you started remembering anything?"

Mary Louise shook her head.

"No but you do and Valerie says that...she just thinks it would be good if we could talk."

Nora eyed the blonde suspiciously. She wondered what exactly Valerie had said to get Mary Louise to talk to her and why she would want that in the first place, unless this was leverage to get her to help bring Stefan back.

"Ok. What did you want to know?" Nora asked, leaning forward and putting her book on the table.

Mary Louise thought about her question.

"How did we meet?"

Nora remembered it so clearly. The day when she had found someone who was like her. Who lived a lie like she did, who was also a Siphoner.

A smile played on her lips.

"I was new to the Heretics. Lily-the woman who turned us- introduced me to you all and you were the first one to catch my eye. The rest as they say, is history."

Mary Louise smiled and looked down shyly.

"What was the first thing I said to you?"

"You told me that I was safe now. That no one would ever hurt me again...you seemed to being saying it as though you were making a promise." Nora said wistfully as she went back to that day in her mind.

"Maybe I was." The blonde said with a slight shrug.

"I wish you could remember." Nora muttered, her elbows resting on her knees as she looked down at the floor.

"So do I." Mary Louise said sadly then added;

"Maybe we should go out for a walk. Staying in this house is a little stifiling."

Nora nodded, pleased that she would be out and could get some fresh air.

Once they were outside, Mary Louise smiled and Nora took her hand without thinking.

The blonde looked down, a little shocked.

Nora instantly released her hand.

"I'm sorry. It's just that we..."

"No, It's fine. If I could remember, I'm sure I would've thought nothing of it."

Nora gave her a small smile and walked silently by her side.

Mary Louise bit her lip. What to say? What could she say? Valerie had said that they needed Nora to help with bringing Stefan back. Maybe she should start with that?

She opened her mouth to speak but then Nora stopped and turned to face her.

"I have this friend, Bonnie. She's a witch. She said that there is a spell we can try to see if we can restore your memory. What do you think?"

Mary Louise hesitated. A spell? Bonnie? That was someone she didn't know and what if Nora couldn't really be trusted? Maybe she should ask Valerie about this first but of course she couldn't tell Nora that.

She smiled and nodded.

Nora brightened considerably.

"That's great. I'll call Bonnie and-"

Mary Louise put a hand on Nora's arm.

"Not today. Tomorrow. To be honest, I'm a little nervous about it."

Nora nodded, trying to hide her disappointment. Then she remembered what had happened between her and Bonnie last night and she didn't want to lie to Mary Lou about anything, even if the blonde didn't love her anymore.

"Mare, there's something I have to tell you. I know it might mean nothing to you now but I just want to be honest."

Mary Louise frowned a little and then waited patiently.

Nora licked her lips and then looked into the blonde's green eyes.

"Last night, I was at a bar and I had too much to drink. Bonnie took me back to her place and I kissed her. I'm sorry, nothing else happened and she pushed me away but I felt so bad about it after. I'm sorry, Mare."

In truth, Nora was hoping to see a reaction. To see something in Mary Lou that would let Nora know that even if she didn't remember anything, she might feel something, anything but no, there was nothing.

Nora bit her lip and turned away.

Mary Louise let out a breath.

"I'm sorry if I should be angry at you but I'm not. You are not mine to boss around and even if you were, I would never do that."

Those words-'You are not mine'- they hurt Nora more than she cared to show and she just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"I er...I think you should go back to the house now."

The blonde looked down.

"Oh...alright. What about you?"

Nora forced a small smile.

"I'm going to walk a bit more. I need to think."

Nora then remembered that Mary Louise didn't remember anything, including how to get back home.

"I'll walk you back."

The blonde nodded and Nora did just that.

Once they were at the door, Mary Louise turned to Nora.

"Why don't you come in? We can talk some more."

Nora shook her head, avoiding Mary Lou's gaze. She would only see how upset Nora was otherwise.

"There's really nothing to talk about...I just want to walk, please?"

Mary Louise nodded her head slowly and then went inside, shutting the door quietly.

Valerie stood behind Mary Louise as she came inside.

"Did it go well?"

The blonde shook her head.

"She really wants me to remember her, Valerie. She's gone so far as to call in an incantation to get my memory back. She has this friend, a witch who says she might be able to help."

Valerie looked at her.

"I think you should do it and I think you should do it tonight if possible."

Mary Louise looked up, shock written all over her face.

"You do?"

Valerie nodded.

"Come on, I'll talk you through it all and then when it happens, you'll be more prepared but you have to tell me everything that Nora said to you today."

Mary Louise nodded and followed Valerie upstairs.

Nora was pleased that Mary Lou had agreed to do the spell with Bonnie. She had faith that it would work but something still niggled at the back of Nora's brain.

Nora, on the quiet, was a bit of a romantic. She believed in love and that it was the strongest power of all. She believed that even if Mary Louise did lose her memory, she would still feel something for Nora. Something would pull her back to the other girl but because there had been no sign of this, Nora doubted Mary Louise's love for her and it hurt her to have that doubt in the first place.

Nora wasn't sure how long she'd been walking but the sky was getting dark and she felt a little cold. Then her phone started ringing.

She answered it.

"Nora?"

It was Mary Louise

"Mary Lou?"

"That spell to restore my memory, I want to do it tonight, if that's ok?"

"That's..yeah, sure, it should be fine. I'll call Bonnie and arrange to meet us at the house."

"Ok good. I'll see you soon."

Nora smiled as she pressed end call and then proceeded to call Bonnie.

"Bonnie? It's Nora. That spell you mentioned last night, can we do it tonight? Mary Lou wants to try it."

Nora let Bonnie in, giving her a tight hug as she came through the door.

She noticed Mary Louise sitting demurely in the lounge.

"Is it just us three?"

Nora nodded.

"I sent Valerie out."

Bonnie nodded.

"Good. We really don't need any distractions with something like this."

Nora nodded in understanding and then shut the door behind Bonnie.

She heard Bonnie introduce herself to Mary Louise (again) and then went into the lounge as Bonnie started preparing things.

Mary Louise looked a little worried.

"Will it hurt?"

Bonnie chuckled.

"No, of course not. I don't like to use spells to hurt people for no reason."

Nora smiled at Bonnie's compassion.

"Ok, are we ready?"

Nora nodded and then knelt on the floor, gesturing for Mary Louise to do the same.

Bonnie then got them to hold hands and said a few words that Mary Louise didn't understand. Lightning crackled and the room went dark. The flames of the candles started flickering and the room shook only a little but it set Mary Louise on edge while Nora went with it.

Then a light appeared. A bright, blue light and it shot straight towards Mary Louise's head. The blonde's eyes snapped open and the blue light was reflected in her eyes.

Something was working.

Then as quickly as it had started, it was over.

Bonnie opened her eyes, followed by Nora and they both looked to see Mary Louise laying on her side.

Nora panicked.

"Oh my god, is she alright?! What happened?!"

Bonnie nodded but her face was still serious.

"She's fine. She'll be awake in a few minutes."

Nora looked from Mary Louise and then back to Bonnie.

"Do you think it worked?"

"We'll know in a little while. Maybe you should get her comfortable for when she wakes up."

Nora nodded and put Mary Louise on the couch gently.

Bonnie asked Nora to call her if things hadn't worked and they would try something different tomorrow but Bonnie was confident that it would work.

Nora thanked her for all her help and then shut the door behind Bonnie.

She turned and watched Mary Louise as she slept.

She would be fine. She had to be.

Author's Note- Did it work?