When Maya headed downstairs the next morning she found Damon in the living room, sitting with two strangers; a guy who looked about seventeen or eighteen and a woman maybe a couple of years older than that. All three of them were already looking in her direction when she appeared in the doorway, Damon with a welcoming smile, the two strangers with naked curiosity on their faces. Maya hovered in the doorway for a second, dropping the barriers on her own mind and probing at theirs, only to be met with the same fuzzy disconnect that she'd found in Damon's.

"Maya, this is my brother Stefan and his friend Lexi."

"Vampires?"

"Yes. Stefan, Lexi, this is Maya, my goddaughter, who I was just telling you about."

They both smiled at her, Stefan even gave a little wave, but neither of them moved from where they were sitting, allowing her to keep her distance.

"Hello Maya, It's nice to meet you."

"Hello."

Even with the static around their minds, Maya could still sense their shock, confusion, and worry, at her presence.

"Are you hungry? I ordered some bagels, I don't really have much in the way of breakfast food yet, but one of the cool things about living in New York is that you can order-in pretty much twenty-four/seven. Don't worry, you wont have to eat take-out every day, I've already added grocery shopping to the list."

Maya swallowed down the urge to giggle at the faces Stefan and Lexi were pulling, they were both staring at Damon like he'd suddenly grown two heads. Damon's mention of food did make her realise just how hungry she was though, so she gave a cautious nod. A large part of her, wondering what she'd have to do in payment for the food, the Dursley's had always made her earn what they gave her, food, a room, clothes, everything.

"Great. I put the bagels in the dining room, why don't we go sit in there and we can talk about all the things we need to get sorted over the next few days."

Damon led the way, the dining room was at the back of the house, across the hallway from the living room. Maya sat down at the table that seemed to take up half the room and accepted the plate Damon passed to her, taking one of the bagels from the plateful that he pushed her way. Damon took a seat on the same side of the table as Maya, but with a space in between them, and Lexi and Stefan settled down opposite Damon.

The bagel she had picked out was spread with peanut butter and had sliced banana in it, Maya took a small bite and was delighted to find that it was the perfect balance of sweet and salty. She had finished her first bagel and started on a second before Damon restarted the conversation.

"So, I spent the night going over the letter Ragnuk sent, and I've got a list of things we'll need to sort out, but I do want your input, Maya."

Maya took a bit out of her second bagel; cream cheese and apple, and looked over at Damon, waiting for him to continue.

"Ragnuk's set up an appointment for us at the New York Branch of Gringotts, so that I can get official custody of you in both worlds, magical and muggle, and to organise your new identity. He said he spoke to you about that?"

Maya nodded, it had been part of the discussion after Narcissa and Ragnuk had told her that her best option was to run away. Whilst the bracelet Ragnuk had given her should block anyone from tracking her magically, and prevent anyone, who was actively looking for her, from recognising her as Maya Potter. They had also suggested that a new identity would help her to blend in and would allow her to register at a new magical school, without anyone instantly discovering where she was. Whilst neither of them thought that Dumbledore or the Ministry of Magic would want to create a huge fuss about her going missing, there would undoubtedly still be a search for her. When she didn't turn up at Hogwarts in September, they would probably start checking with the other magical schools around the world to see if she had registered with any of them.

"Great. So, he doesn't think it's necessary for you to completely change your name, a new last name should be enough. The appointments not till Friday, so you'll have some time to think about it."

"What about your last name? Salvatore?"

"I was friends with the Potter family for a long time. It's quite possible that Albus Dumbledore knows about me, someone with the last name Salvatore registering at a magic school could be something he'll instruct people to look out for."

"You're welcome to use my last name if you'd like to?" Lexi said with a soft smile, "It's Branson."

"Or you can use Enzo or Maggie's. They're very good friends of mine, you'll meet them tomorrow, and I'm sure neither of them would mind if you wanted to use their last names. Enzo's is St John and Maggie's maiden name was James. You don't have to use any or those names, you can choose any name you want to, like I said you have until the appointment on Friday to decide."

Maya nodded, and took another bite of her bagel as she considered the names they'd suggested.

"I thought we could use today to do some shopping, to help get you settled in here."

Maya shot Damon a look full of confusion.

"We need groceries, like I mentioned earlier, so if there's anything in particular you like to eat make sure to let me know so that I can get it."

That didn't help Maya's confusion at all, she could understand that he might need to get more food now that she was living here, she wasn't even sure if vampire's ate anything, other than blood that is. She wasn't sure why he wanted to know if there was anything she liked though, she'd eat whatever he gave her. That's the way it had always been, either she ate what was put in front of her or she starved, and given the amount of times the Dursley's had withheld food as a punishment for something or other, starving was never an option she'd choose for herself.

"You'll need to get some more clothes of course; you only had the one backpack with you, and I don't imagine you were able to fit much inside it. Furniture for your room, it's been a guest bedroom up till now, but you can kit it out however you'd like to. Books, games, DVDs, music, whatever you want."

As Damon continued to tell her what was on his list of things to do, Maya's confusion mounted. The food thing she kind of understood, everything else though, not so much. Damon had promised to protect her last night, to keep her safe, and Maya had believed him, had felt the honesty in his mind. But keeping her safe didn't require buying her stuff, he didn't need to get her new clothes or furniture, or let her redecorate her room, or any of the stuff he was saying. The Dursley's had never bought her anything new, her clothes had either been Dudley's cast-offs or things Aunt Petunia had found in charity shops. Before last summer she'd slept in the cupboard under the stairs on an old mattress on the floor, her limited clothing kept in plastic bags, even when she'd been moved into Dudley's second bedroom, she'd just had to make do with the furniture that was already in there. As for books, games, DVDs, and music, she'd never had anything like that, the Dursley's had always been very clear in their belief that if she had time for leisure activities, then she obviously didn't have enough chores to do.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"I don't need any of that stuff, I brought all the outfits Aunt Cissa got me, I don't need any more. I don't need books or music or any of that stuff, so why would you waste your money on it."

Damon's eyes were laden with sympathy as he looked at her.

"You might not need any of that stuff, but it's things you should have. It's not a waste of money, I want you to be comfortable here."

"The Dursley's never –"

"The Dursley's were wrong." His tone was firm and uncompromising as he cut her off. "I don't know the details of what your life was like with them and it's up to you if you want to share, I will always be here to listen. Narcissa Malfoy mentioned in her letter how she found you, what Vernon was doing, and that she rescued you, no more than that, but you need to know that the Dursley's were wrong, they never should have treated you the way they did. No-one, should ever be treated that way, okay?"

Maya blinked back the tears that had sprung into her eyes, and gave a small nod. She still had her shields down, was still trying to piece together what she could from their minds and one thought had come through loud and clear from Damon. 'I'm never gonna let anyone hurt her like that again.' His mind was filled with honesty and sincerity and Maya knew she'd been right to be hopeful last night.

"Why don't," Stefan said, speaking for the first time since he'd said hello, and bringing an end to the laden silence that had fallen across the dining room at the end of Damon's little speech. "Lexi and I come with you on your shopping trip and be the voices of reason. We'll promise not to let Damon go too mad and buy you too much stuff. How does that sound?"

Maya looked at him and then at Damon, who didn't seem at all bothered by Stefan's suggestion before nodding in agreement.

"Do we have to wait till the sun's gone down? Are stores open that late?"

"Stores in New York are," Damon answered with a grin, "But no we won't have to wait, we all have rings that allow us to walk in the sun."

He wiggled one of his hands at her, showing her the big old-fashioned ring he wore, a quick glance showed her that Stefan had one that was almost identical to Damon's. Lexi's was smaller and much more modern looking, but all of them had a blue stone in the setting.

"Do all vampires have rings that let them walk in the sun?"

"No, a witch has to make them, it's channeler magic, but they don't do it for everyone. Damon and Stefan have had them since they were turned, I've only had mine for the last fourteen years." Lexi's smile grew reminiscent, "Your grandmother Dorea helped me get it, she knew a channeler witch who agreed to make one for me."

Maya nodded, she knew about channeler magic and how it differed from her own, it was taught in Magical Theory and mentioned in History of Magic.

"Have you had enough to eat?" Damon asked.

"Yes, thank you."

Maya had eaten two bagels, well technically only one as they were cut in half and topped with different spreads, both of them had been delicious and had left her feeling almost uncomfortably full. The limited amount of food the Dursley's had provided, left Maya struggling to eat as much as her peers, even when food was readily available. It had gotten better over the year she'd spent at Hogwarts, by the end of the year she'd gone from eating portions that were about a sixth of the size of what everyone else ate to ones that were about a third of the size. Spending the last two months at the Dursleys had set her back again though and the few days she'd spent at Luna's hadn't been enough to get her back to eating larger portions. Damon was looking at her with the same sort of concern her friends often did during meals, most of her friends had taken to carrying around snacks and offering them to her throughout the day in a bid to get her to eat more.

"Okay, well I'll put the rest in the fridge, and you can have some more later if you get hungry. Why don't you go wash up, did you bring a toothbrush with you? Or is that something we need to get?"

Maya who had been reaching for the plate she'd used to wash it up like he'd said, froze when she realised, he'd meant something completely different.

"I uh, I have a toothbrush."

"Good, your bathroom is next to your bedroom, I forgot to tell you that last night, there are some toiletries in there for guests, but we'll add shampoo and conditioner and anything else you need to the shopping list, okay?"

Maya nodded, still stuck on the concept of having an entire bathroom to herself. The Dursley's had had one bathroom in their house and Maya's use of it had always been timed down to the last second, and merlin forbid she go over that time limit. Maya hadn't seen much of this house last night, she'd been dragging slightly when Damon had taken her to choose a bedroom, lack of sleep and the time difference between England and New York catching up with her. He'd pointed out the bedrooms, his was the master bedroom on the fourth floor, there was a guest bedroom opposite that and two more on the floor above.

Maya had chosen the floor above, as it gave her a bit more distance from his room, and she'd chosen the one at the front of the house with a view of the street out the window, because it also came equipped with a window seat, which would give her somewhere to sit with Hedwig when she arrived. She wasn't sure how long it would take Hedwig to fly from England to New York, but she should probably tell Damon before her owl-friend arrived, in case he had a problem with her. Maya hoped he didn't, Hedwig had been her first friend, and she would hate to lose her companion. Plus, it would make staying in touch with her friends very difficult, that had been something else she'd discussed with Ragnuk and Narcissa.

The agreement was that Maya would send letters with Hedwig to one of her account managers at the bank and said account manager would then forward them on to her friends, making them untraceable. With the added benefit that neither Dumbledore nor the Ministry could demand answers on where the letters were coming from because her account managers were protected by client-privilege. Any attempt at forcing the bank and her account managers to break client-privilege would be against the current treaty with the goblin horde which could result in another goblin war.

Maya grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste out of her backpack and took them into the bathroom Damon had said was hers. It was just as modern and stylish as the rest of the house, with a shower, toilet, and sink. As Damon had said there were some toiletries already in there, small bottles of soap, and shampoo in the drawer underneath the sink and a bar of hand-soap sitting on a dish next to the tap. Maya washed her face and hands and brushed her teeth, putting her toothbrush and toothpaste in a holder that matched the soap dish, before grabbing the thin cardigan Narcissa had purchased for her and heading back downstairs.

Shopping with Damon, Lexi, and Stefan was an odd and entirely new experience for Maya. The Dursley's had certainly never taken her shopping, Petunia had occasionally given her a list of groceries and some money and sent her off to get them, but no more than that. Her school shopping with Hagrid last year had been very structured, she'd had a list and Hagrid had made sure she got everything that was on it and nothing else, he'd been on a schedule and so she hadn't been allowed any time to browse. The clothes and backpack she'd brought with her to New York had been given to her by Narcissa, they were lovely; good quality and stylish, but Maya hadn't gone with her when she'd purchased them.

Damon's brownstone was only a short walk from 5th Avenue, which was apparently the best place to shop in New York. But Damon and Lexi had both insisted that Saks was the best shop for them to start in and so Damon had arranged for a car and driver to take them there, and to pick them up again once they were done. Damon had also somehow arranged for them to have a personal shopper to assist them, which had made Stefan rub his face and mutter something that Maya hadn't caught, and had made Lexi extremely happy, immediately stepping forward to engage the woman in conversation.

Maya was too busy staring wide-eyed at the store they had entered to pay much attention to what Lexi or Damon were saying to the personal shopper. The place they had entered was absolutely massive, ten stories filled with everything from clothes and shoes to home décor. Maya had never realised a store could be this big or sell so many different things. She was still staring around in wonder when the personal shopper gently cleared her throat to gain her attention.

"Hi sweetie, my name's Natalie, I'm going to help you get everything you need today, okay?"

Maya bobbed her head awkwardly and Natalie gave her a warm smile.

"Great, let's start with clothes, shall we?"

Maya gave another awkward bob of her head and Natalie turned and led them all over to an elevator which took them straight up to the tenth floor where all the kids clothes were located. There was a section for girls of Maya's age and size, which Natalie had referred to as the 'tweens' section, but instead of taking them there she took them to a private room, with drinks and snacks laid out for them, and a large selection of clothing for them to look at. Along the way Natalie asked Maya several probing questions to try and determine what sort of styles and colours she liked, but didn't seem at all bothered when Maya was unable to answer most of them.

"No worries sweetie, I'm sure we'll find stuff you like that will suit your colouring."

Once they were all settled into the room, Natalie began showing them all the clothes she'd gathered together, separating the ones Maya liked from the ones she didn't. It was a slow process, Maya had always worn whatever Petunia had given her to wear and Hogwarts had a school uniform, so she had never actually developed a style of her own, all she knew was that she didn't like Petunias horrible taste. Natalie wasn't daunted by this though, seeming all the more determined to help Maya figure out what she did and didn't like. Damon and Lexi both helped, just as invested as Natalie in making sure Maya had everything she could ever want or need in the way of clothes.

To give him credit, Stefan did attempt to keep his promise to Maya and rein Damon in somewhat, but there was only so much he could do under the combined efforts of his brother, his best friend, and one very determined personal stylist. They ended up with so many clothes that Damon made arrangements for them to be delivered the next day, along with anything else they picked out whilst in the store. Along with clothes, they also helped Maya to choose shoes, bags, and any other accessories they thought necessary. Damon had apparently told Natalie that Maya required an entire wardrobe and she'd taken him at his word, he did draw the line with make-up, but he allowed Lexi to persuade him that nail polish was okay.

After clothes they'd taken a walk through the home décor section, but other than one red blanket with gold accents that reminded Maya of the Gryffindor common room and was unbelievably soft, she didn't really see much that she liked. Damon had thanked Natalie for her help, paid for everything they'd chosen, including the blanket, and then the four of them had left. Lexi had taken Maya into a smoothie shop close by and helped her pick one off the menu that she might like, whilst Damon and Stefan had remained outside. From the look Maya caught of them whilst she was waiting for her smoothie, Stefan appeared to be attempting to convince Damon of something, possibly another attempt to prevent Damon from overwhelming Maya with purchases.

The smoothie she'd chosen was called a Sunshine Smoothie, it was a mix of carrot juice, pineapple, and bananas, and Maya found it absolutely delicious, even better than pumpkin juice. Damon and Stefan had finished their discussion by the time Lexi and Maya left the smoothie shop and the four of them continued on down the street, Damon was determined to get as much of the stuff on his list as possible. They went to the Apple store where he purchased her a mobile phone, a laptop, and an iPod, promising to teach her how to use all of them, in response to Maya's completely bewildered look. Dudley had owned a computer and an iPod, but Maya hadn't been allowed to touch either of them, he hadn't had a mobile though, Petunia had said he was too young and could have one once he turned thirteen.

On top of all that, Damon purchased her headphones, a radio for her bedroom, and a TV, DVD player, several gaming systems, plus games, for the lounge, which was on the lowest floor of the house, and according to Damon didn't get much use. By this point, Maya was completely overwhelmed, Damon hadn't even known her for twenty-four hours yet, and he had already spent thousands of dollars on her. Stefan finally managed to successfully intervene and stop Damon from continuing his spending spree, by pointing out it was time for lunch and that they still needed to go grocery shopping which should take precedence over anything else.

Lunch gave Maya some time to recover slightly from the shopping spree Damon had taken them on, aided and abetted by Lexi who seemed to be enjoying herself thoroughly. It also gave the vampires a chance to figure out some of Maya's food preferences, they ordered several dishes and encouraged her to try a little bit from each so that they could start determining what she liked. In comparison to the morning, the afternoon trip to purchase groceries was a lot easier, though Damon did still manage to slip away and get several DVDs, some books, and some games, whilst Lexi distracted Maya and Stefan.