Hello everyone!

I know, I know! It has been months since I've lasted updated, and I do apologize for that. School picked up its pace with competitions, exam preparation, and constructing papers for classes. Also, Life loves to be a damn comedian and has given me a few tests without even learning a few lessons beforehand. So it's been hard, I know, no excuse, right? But I've been working on this part from time to time when my heart and feelings inspired me.

The pain of losing love, either it be a friend or a lover, can be excruciating! However, you have to learn to move on and live on.

And yet, there is a part of you that won't let go.

And in this part, I suppose, this is my take on what happens when you won't let go of that love, when that love consumes you entirely to the point where it robs you the chance of loving another. I suppose I put my Klaus goggles on when I wrote these scenes, all in while letting my heart ink its way into these words. I apologize for any errors.

I hope you all enjoy.

ALSO, I love to thank Winter's Empire again for making the lovely banner for this story, which is the book cover now!

Disclaimer: I do not own either series, Harry Potter or The Vampire Diaries.

.:Part Five:.
To Chase

…January 20th…

The days became silent when true emptiness began to settle into its place. No longer did the halls echo with the confident strides of his younger sister, and no more were the soft turning sounds of Hermione's books. The arguments between Klaus and his brothers were a thing of the past now and left in its place is the aching in his heart.

It was his worst nightmare coming true.

He was now truly alone in this world, and the saddest part was that everyone chose to leave him.

Klaus swallowed the vodka along with his pride, his other hand holding onto a crumpled photograph of a smiling Hermione. He all but destroyed everything that reminded him of her. The sweet vanilla scent of hers was already disappearing, and he didn't know what to do with himself anymore.

It was so empty without her here.

~x~

…January 25th…

It was a cruel joke, he thought as he watched the young beautiful girl walked inside his home, the girl he so desperately wanted before all of this happened. She was so young and so curious, and he was so old and so worn down. He couldn't refuse her.

Not when he needed someone in his life.

"I'm wondering if your offer still stands," Caroline whispered, nervously licking her lips, "I feel like you're right."

Klaus chuckled into his hand, trying to bury the waves of bitterness deep down into his shriveled up soul. The girl he wanted to so much is crawling back to him, but the ironic thing was she wasn't the girl he wanted now.

Life is such a damn comedian.

"Offering yourself to a devil man, Caroline?" Klaus laughed, hiding his disappointment well. "What would dear Elena say?"

Caroline pursed her lips at him.

Ah, they had a bit of an argument.

"Do you not want me anymore?" She snapped, but he knew that there was a bit of pain underneath her words.

Klaus appeared before her, closer than ever.

"No, Caroline," he breathed, "I need you."

And with those words, he poured every bit of hurt and love into her in one single kiss.

But the kiss was never meant for her.

~x~

…June 26th…

Caroline was a fantastic woman.

She embodied what a woman should be.

She was utterly feminine with her long legs and soft curls, but she still held onto her independence despite the fact she was involved with a man who could easily killed her with his pinky. Caroline was the classic American girl, and yet she could never match Hermione's unconventional beauty.

Klaus always compared them.

It was unfair, but he couldn't help it.

Where Caroline's laugh would be a chiming sound, Hermione's laughter was that of pure happiness that she would rarely ever show. Caroline's hips would sway with confidence that matched even his own level of cockiness whereas Hermione's would ever so slightly sway. She walked as if she wanted to never leave a trace behind in this world.

It's been a months since she left.

It's been months since Caroline became his.

But all the details about Caroline were insignificant compared to her.

Her.

Hermione.

The woman he loved.

And the woman he compared to the woman he has now.

He couldn't forget her, and how can he?

When every detail about her was carved into his entire being.

~x~

…One year later, a few days before New Year's…

Sometimes it felt like a dream.

A dream that happened so long ago.

Months turned into a year….and slowly the year was turning into another…

How she smelled, how she felt….everything about her, everything that made him fall for him was slowly disappearing. He desperately clung onto those little things, trying to remember them, wanting to immortalize them and keep them forever in his entire being. He didn't want to lose these memories of her like he did with her.

Hermione was his beginning, and he, Klaus, should be the end of the endless dream of them.

He would sometimes sit and tune out Caroline's words, letting his heart wander through the dark, trying to reach for the one it wants so badly. Sometimes its futile search would unearth a particular memory that would be usually boring but meant everything, and other times it left him out in the cold, shivering.

Sometimes when he made love to Caroline, all he could imagine was her.

Hermione.

Golden hair would transform into coiling locks splayed out beneath a panting woman, and her face would mold into another. Playful blue morphed into dark, witty eyes. A face much sweeter, yet aged with memories that cannot be shared. Everything he used to love became everything he needed.

Hermione was love.

His dream.

His reason.

She was everything in between.

The sweet curve of her mouth could be the last thing that would ever touch his lips, leaving him to eternal starvation, but he would not be able to regret such event. Her lips to him were like an answer to all the hours of praying, of questioning, of silence. Hermione was like a fleeting moment, and yet he could still feel her as if she were a vivid dream.

Only what he truly wanted was for the dream to become a reality.

And in these moments he knew that Caroline wasn't the one for him.

Perhaps she was never the one to begin with.

~x~

…After New Year's, February 2nd…

Caroline knew that whatever Klaus felt for her before Hermione was a small candle next to what he felt for the witch. She knew that, he knew that, it was as if the whole world knew! But she could not leave him when he needed her. With a family gone, he was left alone in the world by their choice.

She didn't know which one was worse.

Being abandoned because the ones you loved died or they chose to leave.

And so she stayed with Klaus because she knew that not only he needed her, she needed him.

She left Mystic Falls for the glamorous world that he promised her as well as for the life that she yearned for back home. Klaus was new and exciting, he was dangerous. However, he was also charming, chivalrous when he wanted to be, and most of all, he was generous in the most surprising manner.

"Hold on for a moment, love," Klaus quickly kissed her cheek before running back to the convenient store.

Curious, Caroline looked back to watch the man she loves.

He was paying for two giant rainbow lollipop for two children who wore worn-out garments, looking at him with a bit of awe as he gave one to both of them. Whether Klaus was trying to be kind or overly-cautious, Caroline could not help but to giggle at his stony expression. Luckily, the children did not cower away from him.

The little girl, with her toothy-grin, thanked him while the little boy ran off with excitement.

Klaus was more human than the credit he gave himself.

She was falling in love with him more and more every day.

But she knew that he was falling a deeper in love with a dream.

~x~

…February 18th…

He desperately tried to love her, he really did, and yet he couldn't, at least, not anymore. All the remaining room in his heart was given away to her, Hermione. The woman he loved, the woman he freed from their contract.

Klaus wanted to love Caroline, he really did, and it wasn't as if he had forgotten his feelings for her, no, that wasn't the case at all. He simply loved Hermione more than Caroline, and it showed. The taste of her lips, the softness of them against his felt divine but not quite right.

Caroline's hair was too smooth, and her skin was too soft, free from hardships in her former human life.

It felt good but not right.

It was never right.

~x~

…Two years later, April 20th…

"-You still love her, don't you?" Caroline demanded, her blue eyes wet with tears. The photograph of Hermione was held tightly by her hands, and he knew that she could tear that last reminder of Love at any second.

"But I adore you-" He started his words, but everything was done when Caroline threw the picture in his face.

"But I'm still second place."

Her pretty face crumpled into a moment of heartbreak, and she disappeared as he sigh a breath of relief. Klaus didn't even go after her, no, he simply picked up the remainder of his heart from the marbled floor, placing it close to his silent and empty chest. He knew that Caroline would come back.

Caroline wanted him to love her and only her.

Even when she knew he can't.

But he never did correct her after that.

~x~

…September 24th…

He hated it.

The nights would always become so cold and silent when she became distant. Klaus knew he was being unfair, but surely Caroline knew what she was walking into, right? She knew that he loved someone else, and yet she still came to him with open arms. How can she expect anything of him? More than what he has given her?

He gave her the world of beauty and wealth.

He gave her culture and memories.

Klaus gave her everything but his heart.

He sighed. "Can you stop acting like a child now?" The words were harsh but desperate.

He didn't want another fight tonight.

Caroline leaned back in her seat, uncaring that they might make a scene in this little restaurant, and she looked outside the window, letting the beauty of Prague slip past through her fingers. Jealousy can ruin anything and everything. Frustration and sadness made every experience with Klaus so bittersweet.

Did he even see her?

Or can he only see her, that other woman?

Hermione.

Anger swelled up inside of her.

"And can you stop being such a selfish bastard?" She matched his cruelty with her own. "You don't see me, Klaus. Do you even know who you are with sometimes?"

"Caroline-" "Why can't you loveme?"

Her words struck him.

Memories of him asking Hermione the same exact question.

She sounded so small, trying to hold her tears back. She wanted to stop her heart from breaking in front of him. Caroline quickly wiped away the sadness that threatened to spill from her eyes. Underneath her beauty, she taped everything back together, holding back the feelings once more behind that stupid dam she had built over the time she has been with him.

Guilt began to flood in.

Klaus reached over to hold her hand in his.

He looked at her with….something unexplainable but it made her heart ache.

"I will try, Caroline, but it may take some time."

She'd give him all the time in the world if he could love her and only her.

But trying did not always mean success.

~x~

…October 15th…

Caroline strolled down the streets of Paris, bloodshot eyes hidden by a pair of expensive Chanel sunglasses she had bought for herself that day. She and Klaus had gotten into another argument the night before, and she stormed out of the suite, her love and hate for him mingling even more. It was about the same thing, it always was about the same thing: Hermione.

The saddest thing was Hermione wasn't even physically part of Klaus's life anymore.

She had to compete with a woman who still held a place in the heart of the man she loved. A woman who wasn't even after Klaus's heart and yet still managed to fill his mind with memories of her; how the hell was she supposed to compete with that? Caroline wasn't competing with Elena Gilbert, who was a girl that attracted all the guys, no, Caroline was competing with a dream and hope.

Hermione was Klaus's dream.

And how the hell does a woman crush the dreams of the man she loves?

~x~

…Three years since Hermione, November 20th…

She hated Hermione.

Hated her.

Hated the very idea of her.

Hated her for even existing.

But Caroline knew, despite the all the bitter feelings she felt, she couldn't bring herself to hate a woman who spoke to her with kindness. A woman who she thought could become a good friend of hers, a person who saw more than an insecure, neurotic monster. She couldn't hate Hermione even when that was all she felt for the world at the moment.

And so she drowned her heart in a sea of booze, crying and ranting throughout the night. Caroline tried so hard to forget the pain, the disappointment, everything at that moment. She drank anything and everything, making her world slips into a world of slowed motions and self-pity.

She killed a man that night.

All she wanted was the warmth of a man's embrace, his attention on her and only her. The stranger was beautiful with a pretty curve that made his lips delectable, but the heat of his skin and the sound of the rapid heartbeat made everything feel like a sick delicious dream.

But the guilt settled in the morning when she woke up beside the man's lifeless body, covered in the evidence of the sin she had committed the night before. She screamed, she cried, she broke down. And so she called Klaus that morning, pleading for help like a youngling with its parent.

She killed a man.

Caroline tore out her pretty locks, her agonized heart screaming out into the world. This miserable, miserable world. Eyes of beauty became tarnished, became hideous because of this pain that strangled her heart. To be covered in that man's blood was maddening, to be inside of her skin was torturous. She tried to claw this monster's skin off, and yet she knew it was futile.

Caroline became that monster that she feared and hated.

She couldn't stand it.

She hated herself.

Caroline stumbled into the bathroom, her eyes bleeding red. She hated this face. A face that will never age. With bleeding hands, she shattered the mirror. She couldn't stand it. Everything in her life became nothing. A life without love, without a future was a life not a life at all. At least, not a kind of life she wanted. Caroline did not want second place.

Not anymore.

But she didn't want to become a monster either.

What was she?

Was she even Caroline anymore?

Where did she go?

Where did Caroline run off to these past years?

The tears would not stop.

~x~

It was an hour before Klaus could find the hotel, and when he did arrive, he found Caroline cowering in the corner with eyes crying too many tears for one human life. The room was a wreck with its furniture shattered and curtains shredded. He spotted her daylight ring across the room, bathing in the sun.

Klaus frowned as he picked it up.

"What in God's name are you doing, Caroline?" He snapped.

Caroline shook from her place.

"I can't do it anymore. I'm so done."

And yet she looked like the beginning to him.

Just not for him.

"You can't have a suicide episode every time you feed, love." Klaus sighed, walking towards her with his usual cocky attitude. He crouched down in front of her, taking her dry-bloodied hand into his and slipped her ring onto her dainty finger. She looked at him with a hopeful look, holding onto his hand as if that he would bring her back from her episode.

Why couldn't she be like him?

Klaus gave her a soft smile, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

With love.

It was so wrong. A man was dead because of her. Another man.

She cried.

"No, Klaus. I can't do this anymore. I can't be with you. I'm done being second place. I'm done with you pushing me away. I'm sick of feeling like absolute shit every time we fight, and sick of calling you the morning after to clean up my damn mess. I'm so in love with you, you make me go crazy. But I can't do this anymore. It's too much for me. I can't be second place anymore," she gasped, "I can't kill any more people because I feel like this. I can't."

Tears made her vision so hazy.

"I'm leaving you."

But what broke her heart the most was that his heart wouldn't be as damaged as hers.

HermioneHermioneHermioneHermione.

Caroline wasn't Hermione.

~x~

…November 25th…

Caroline had packed up everything and left him.

Just like everyone else.

Klaus drank his wine, not really savoring its flavor as he letting the world sinks in. His loneliness had yet to make a rampage in his heart, but he knew it will be a storm. He had her, why wasn't he satisfied in having a beautiful young woman like her? Caroline was his ideal woman. She was feisty, smarty, and undeniably sexy so why wasn't he happy?

She wasn't Hermione.

He threw the bottle at the wall, not really caring that he had destroyed one of his favorite paintings. He couldn't have her, yet his heart wanted her so. It hurt knowing that Caroline had left him because of his selfish heart, but he couldn't help it. Caroline knew what she was getting herself into.

She knew that he could give her the very little space left he had in his heart, but did that really justify anything?

"No," he whispered, "Not at all."

He sat back into his chair, defeated.

His family had left him.

Caroline walked out on him.

And Hermione….was simply gone.

He was all alone again.

It was only him…and the memories of her.

The sweetness of her scent, her laughter that had shaken him, and her fine eyes; he could remember them, even when he was in the dreamy haze of his drunken stupor. Images of her would slowly become clear, the blurriness of time giving way into clarity when he let his mind connect with his heart. He should have been mourning for his loss of Caroline.

And yet here he was.

The mind and heart go to interesting places when under the influence of alcohol. Places you may not have expected, emotions you may usually ignore

-Philip Wang, WongFuProductions-

And there you have it!

Part Five of Without Fault, but it is certainly not the last part. I keep saying the next chapter will be the last, but hopefully the sixth chapter will be the final part to all of this. I want to wrap this up, but not in messy way where I can't place a piece of myself into my work. I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, even if it was slightly depressing.

So this chapter was heavily influenced by my own life, and I am sure everyone can relate to love troubles, may it be small or epic, it still hurts us in some way. We all carry a piece of that love with us, whether you want to or not, it's still there. And so, this chapter was my interpretation on hanging onto that love a bit too much.

Or "when love fails us or we fail love." Which is a fantastic quote from After the Moment by Garret Freymann-Wey, a great read.

And Caroline becomes part of the failure of love.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this, and I hope it met your expectations.

Part Six is currently being written, which has a more hopeful tone to it.

An almost happy ending for everyone.

Until next time!

-The Red Strings-