Damon Salvatore had lived upon the earth for almost 170 years. In that time, he had been in many a surprising situation and he had dealt with them all with aplomb, or he at least liked to think that he had. Nothing he had ever done or experienced tough, had prepared him for this moment right now, for the girl on his doorstep and her startling claim.

"I'm Maya, Maya Lucinda Potter…"

Damon didn't doubt that. He could see traces of all the people he had loved and lost over the last 137 years. They were in the mess of crazy curls that framed her face and tumbled down her back, in the shape of her chin, the way she tilted her head and the elegant arch of her fingers as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

"…You are Damon Salvatore, right? The vampire?"

Damon nodded mutely. He was used to meeting Potter's in weird and surprising situations, they didn't usually seek him out until they were adults though. A quick calculation in his head told Damon that Maya must be around eleven or twelve now, not that she looked it. He was no expert, but he was fairly certain that pre-teens weren't supposed to be that small.

"So, like I said, you're my godfather..."

Yeah, that was the part he was getting stuck on. Damon definitely didn't remember agreeing to be anyone's godfather, let alone Maya's, not that he would have said no to Jasmine if she'd asked. The thing was, she hadn't. If she had Damon wouldn't have spent the last eleven years stewing in his own guilt. He would have been there for Maya, would have demanded a place in her life, nothing would have stopped him, not even those thrice-damned anti-vampire laws the British magicals had enacted.

"… Lady Magic chose you…"

Lady Magic did what now? No wonder Damon didn't remember being asked to be Maya's godfather.

"…needed somewhere to go, so they sent me here."

Damon was fairly sure he'd missed several of the things that Maya had been saying to him, a belief that was reinforced by the small frown she bore and the hand that was insistently waving a couple of letters in front of his face. Damon took the letters and looked down at the small child who had found her way from England to his doorstep in New York city with nothing more than a backpack. Something wasn't right about this situation, and it wasn't his suddenly finding out that he's been named a godfather to a witch by a cosmic entity. He needed help.

"Would you like to come in… Maya?"

She gave him a look that was way too suspicious for an eleven-year-old and gave the straps of her backpack a couple of anxious tugs before nodding. She remained where she was standing until he'd stepped back and opened the door wide enough that she could slide past him and still keep a healthy distance. Something definitely wasn't right.

"Why don't you take a seat in the lounge. I'm gonna read these letters and then we can talk, okay?"

Another suspicious look and a cautious nod came his way before she turned and headed in the direction he'd pointed when he'd mentioned the lounge. Damon didn't miss how tensely she held herself nor did he miss how she had hesitated to turn her back on him. He rubbed a hand over his face, he absolutely needed some help.

Maggie and Enzo were out, as much as they would be his preference to call upon, they were currently in India. They were due back in a few days, so even if he could get hold of them, it was doubtful, they'd be able to get back to New York any earlier than planned. Which left Stefan and Lexi, they'd taken off a few days ago on a road trip to Chicago for a Bon Jovi concert. It was a twelve-hour drive from Chicago to New York, if they obeyed the speed limit, if he sent them a text now, then they should be able to make it back before sunrise.

He pulled out his phone and sent a short message to Stefan. Their relationship was still strained at times, a complicated history left them struggling to connect with each other, but Damon knew if he ever needed help, all he had to do was ask and Stefan would come. And for once he was absolutely in need of help.

He glanced down the hallway towards the lounge, if he listened for it, he could hear the rapid beating of Maya's heart, she was afraid, or nervous, or both. Whatever this was, whatever had happened to bring the last of the Potters to his doorstep, he wasn't going to turn her away. Not now, not ever. He looked down at the two letters Maya had handed to him, with a sigh he opened the first.

Dear Mr Salvatore,

I am writing this letter to request that you take guardianship of Maya Potter, your goddaughter. By now Maya will most likely have informed you that you were named her godfather by Lady Magic, it is a rare occurrence for our Lady to name a godparent for a magical child, but it has happened before. In every recorded instance of it happening, the life of the child involved was touched by Fate. To put this in perspective for you, the last known occurrence of magical godparents in Britain was when Merlin and Morgana were both gifted one by Lady Magic. Though she is only twelve, Maya's life has already been one of intense hardship. I do not know what else Fate may have in store for her, but I believe Lady Magic has chosen you to be her godfather for a reason.

I think it would be best to allow Maya to tell you her story when she trusts you enough to do so, but I will tell you some so that you may understand our reasoning in sending her to you. Maya has just finished her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, whilst there she became friends with my son and with my niece. They both became very worried when Maya did not answer any of the letters, they sent her this summer and after discussions with some of her other friends, it became clear that Maya wasn't responding to anyone. I went to investigate and discovered Maya being beaten by Vernon Dursley, further investigation made it clear that this was not a one-time occurrence, that the abuse has been going on since Maya was left at that house.

I removed her from their care at once and took her to Gringotts bank, this may seem like an odd choice to you, but I knew that the Horde would provide healing and ensure Maya's privacy, something that I couldn't be certain of if I had taken her to St Mungo's. All muggleborn or muggle-raised students are assigned a guardian from our world, usually their Head of House once they enter Hogwarts. Maya's magical guardian was horrified to learn of the abuse and swore that Vernon Dursley would be punished, sent to a muggle prison, for his crimes. However, he was insistent that Maya would return to live with Petunia and Dudley Dursley next summer, he has his reasons and believes that his decision is what is best for Maya in the long run, I do not agree, but I am not in a position where I can challenge him.

Maya does not wish to return to her aunt and cousin, she believes, as do I and others, that to return would result in her death. However, the political situation in Britain is such that I can not challenge for custody of Maya and my doing so may place her in more danger if another party decided to try for custody. Maya is the last of the Potters and is the named heir to the House of Black, both of those things make her very rich, and mean that she will wield a lot of power within our world when she is of age. However, they also, along with her history, make her a target for opportunists and those who would cause her harm.

After much discussion we realised the safest and best option for Maya would be to get her out of Britain, to send her to you. It is our hope that you will take Maya in, that you will protect and care for her and enable her to have some semblance of the childhood that she has thus far been denied. The other letter you have received will detail how you can go about ensuring this.

I beg of you to make the right choice for Maya, don't send her back to Britain, don't force her back here where all that awaits her is death or an even worse fate.

Yours Sincerely,

Narcissa Astrea Malfoy née Black

Damon had to force himself to calm down several times when reading the letter in order to get through the whole thing. He didn't need Narcissa's heartfelt plea at the end, the minute she'd mentioned the abuse Maya had suffered at the hands of her uncle, Damon had determined that he would never allow her to go back to Britain, that he would kill anyone who tried to take her. Even if he hadn't been named her godfather by an ancient cosmic entity, he still would have taken her in. She was the last descendant of a family that had been friends to him for well over a century, he would protect her from anyone and anything that tried to hurt her. With that decided, he opened the second letter and began to read.

Maya was perched on the edge of the sofa when Damon entered the lounge, her fingers were tapping anxiously against her knees, but she stilled them completely when she noticed he'd entered the room. Her gaze fixed on him completely, a mixture of anxiety, fear, hope, and quiet determination in her eyes, as she watched him cross the room and take a seat opposite her. Damon was hopeful that the distance and the coffee table between them would help put her at ease, even if just a little bit. He remembered well enough from his own childhood with his father, what it was to be afraid of any and all adults, because if your own family was willing to hurt you, then what would strangers be willing to do.

"I met your great-great-grandfather, Henry Potter, right here in New York in 1871. He saved my life." Damon told her, "We became friends, best friends, and I've been friends with the members of your family ever since."

"Did you know?"

"That I was your godfather?"

A slight nod was his only response.

"No, I didn't, not until you told me. I was very good friends with your grandparents, Charlus and Dorea, we fought against Grindelwald together, and they later saved me and another good friend of mine from a difficult situation."

It was an odd way to describe being locked up, tortured, and experimented on, but Damon didn't want to get into the details of it for a few reasons. To start with, Maya didn't need to know all the gory details of his time with Augustine, she was just a kid, she didn't need that kind of darkness in her life, at least not anymore than it already was. And secondly, even fifty years later Damon still found it difficult to talk about, at Maggie's suggestion, he'd gone to therapy, which had helped a lot, but he still didn't like to think too much on his time in Augustine.

"But I only met Jasmine a few times before she died, the last time we spoke was at the funeral of her parents, your grandparent, when she was still pregnant with you. Charlus and Dorea were murdered by Death Eaters and Jasmine herself was a target, she told me that, and she also told me that she was going into hiding with her husband and that's the last time I saw or communicated with her directly. A few months after you were born, I was sent a photograph of you with your parents, no letter, no note, just a photograph.

"I assumed Jasmine didn't want to put anything in writing that might put me or them in danger if the letter was intercepted, but she wanted to follow the tradition Henry had started when Fleamont was born by sending me a picture. When Jasmine told me that she was going into hiding, she seemed certain that the magic they intended to use would suffice to keep you hidden and safe from harm. I cant say for certain that she knew I had been named your godfather by Lady Magic, if she did, then it's likely she believed that she would be able to inform me once the war had ended and all three of you were safe."

"Instead, she died, they both did."

"They did. I didn't receive the news of their deaths until a few weeks afterwards, too late for me to attend their funeral. I visited their graves and spoke with a friend of theirs, he told me what had happened. I asked about you and he told me that custody of you had been given to your aunt, your dad's sister, she was your closest living relative."

"Except she wasn't. We weren't even related, Luke wasn't my dad, not biologically."

Yeah, Ragnuk had mentioned that fact in the letter he had written to Damon, and he was definitely still trying to wrap his head around the fact that an Original Vampire had fathered a child. The only reason that Damon knew for certain that Klaus was real was because Henry had told him about the Originals back when they'd first met. Most of the vampires Damon had run into over the years either didn't know anything about the Originals, or spoke of them as if they were just myths and legends, the vampiric version of campfire tales. Meant to make you jump, but not to be taken too seriously.

Henry had told him the facts, the history lessons he had learnt in school, of the Original family, the first generation of vampires. Every vampire in existence was part of a sireline that could be traced back to one of the Originals. Henry had never mentioned any of them ever having a biological child though, and as far as Damon and all the other vampires he had ever met knew, procreation was off the table for them. Sure, they could sire someone with their blood, adding new vampires to their sirelines, but actual biological reproduction through impregnating a human, was impossible. Except apparently it wasn't because Maya had been born to Jasmine Potter, a human witch, and one, Niklaus Mikaelson, an Original Vampire.

"I didn't know that. I also didn't know that your aunt, that Petunia Dursley, was a muggle, if I had then I would have pushed to be a part of your life. I thought she was a witch, and given the anti-vampire laws enacted by the Ministry of Magic and the general anti-vampire sentiment that pervaded magical Britain at the time, I thought that pushing to be a part of your life would do more harm than good."

Maya stared at him in silence, her green-blue eyes fixed on his, as if she was trying to determine whether he was being honest or not. Finally, she blinked and nodded her head slightly.

"What happens now?"

"Now, you go to bed, I have a few spare rooms you can choose from. It's late and you must be exhausted, we can talk more in the morning, figure out what we're going to do."

"Are you going to send me back?"

"No, you're not going back Maya. I didn't know about you before, but I do now, and I promise you, I am going to do everything I can to keep you safe. Okay?"

Maya gave him a small smile, just the slightest upturning of her lips really, and nodded.

"Okay."

Maya sat down on the window seat of the room she had chosen out of the ones Damon had showed her and stared out at the street. A part of her still couldn't quite believe that she was in another country, three thousand miles away from Privet Drive, away from the Dursleys. When she had made the decision to follow the plan Narcissa and Ragnuk had come up with, to run away and leave behind everything she knew and all of her friends, she hadn't known what to expect, but it had been the only option left to her.

From the moment Damon Salvatore had opened the door, Maya had dropped the walls she usually had up to protect her mind from the bombardment of other people's thoughts, and had started to read him. At first, she'd only been able to read some things off of him, more emotions than actual thoughts, mostly shock, confusion, and worry. It wasn't until he had sat down opposite her and began to talk that she'd eventually been able to read him properly, but even then, it hadn't been easy.

It had always been simple with muggles, all she ever had to do was lower the barriers in her mind and she'd be bombarded with thoughts, sometimes she'd be bombarded with them even when she was trying to keep them out. Wixen tended to be on somewhat of a scale, from being as easy to read as a muggle to being completely impossible to read. Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore had both fallen into this latter category and Draco had confided in her that they were both known to be master's at Occlumency. Which was apparently what shielding your mind was called, something Maya had unconsciously been practising since she was a child, in order to not be driven mad by the constant bombardment of other people's thoughts and feelings.

Damon was different. Maya didn't really know how to put into words what was different about it, just that it was. It had been like trying to tune into a specific frequency on a radio, but you couldn't get the dial to the exact right spot so the sound would drop in and out, and when you did get sound, it was staticky and hard to listen to. Maya wasn't sure if that was a vampire thing, or just a Damon thing, either way it had taken most of the time had had been speaking for her to read him and know that he was being honest.

Damon had been honest when he'd told her that he hadn't known she was his goddaughter. He had been honest when he'd told her why he had not been a part of her life growing up. And he had been honest when he'd promised to protect her.

Maya hadn't known what to expect when she'd run away, but she was starting to feel hopeful that she had made the right decision.