Stefan knocked on the door of the Boarding House whilst Damon hung back slightly. Stefan had visited Zach before, whilst Damon had only ever checked in on him from a distance. So, Stefan was more likely to get them an invite inside. They hadn't really planned it out beyond that, Director Picquery had accompanied them so that she could prove to Zach that the kind of magic they were describing actually existed, and to explain his options with regards to keeping his family safe. They had accounted for the fact that Zach might not be the one to open the door, what they hadn't accounted for was that his eldest daughter would instantly recognize Selene.

"Madam Director?"

"Have we met?"

"You came to give a lecture at my school last year. The Salem Witches Institute?"

Confusion instantly cleared from Selene's eyes.

"Ah. Well, I suppose that does make things easier doesn't it. Are your parents at home miss…?"

"Sarah, Sarah Salvatore. Erm my dad's here, but mums out at the moment."

"That's okay, would you go and fetch your father please, we need to speak with him on a matter of some urgency."

A worried frown crossed Sarah's face, but she nodded and slipped away. Damon gave Selene an appraising look.

"You lectured at Salem?"

"There was an incident involving a group of seventh years. The Headmistress is my cousin, and she asked me to come in and speak to the whole school, she thought getting the lecture directly from the head of Magical Law Enforcement would really drive the message home."

"I'll bet."

Further conversation was ended by the arrival of Zach on the doorstep, he greeted Stefan with a smile, passed worried eyes across Selene, and then landed on Damon.

"You must be Damon."

"That's me, it's nice to finally meet you Zach. I only wish the circumstances were better."

"And eh, what are the circumstances? What rings the two of you and the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to my doorstep?"

"May we come in, Mr Salvatore?" Selene requested politely. "We have a lot to discuss, and it would be best done someplace away from curious ears."

Her eyes shot to something behind Zach, and he turned his head in the same direction, all three of his kids were standing there, clear curiosity and worry on their faces.

"Sarah, take Liam and Chloe upstairs please."

"Yes dad."

Sarah began to usher her two younger siblings away and up the stairs and Zach turned back to the trio on his porch.

"Come on in, Damon. Stefan. Madam?"

"Picquery."

He nodded.

"Please come in, we can talk about why you're here in the living room."

"Thank you very much."

"Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?" Zach asked politely, as he ushered them into the living room.

They all shook their, murmuring their thanks, and following him into the room. For Damon, it was like he had stepped back in time. He had not set foot in the Boarding House in fifty-six years, but it looked exactly as he remembered it. The walls lined with books, the same antique furniture, even the curtains were the same, though slightly faded with time. His eyes scanned the room, taking in every detail.

"We rarely use this room, only really when we have guests." Zach said, having noticed Damon's gaze pass across the room.

"Do you still operate as a Boarding House?" Damon asked.

"Not really, not since we realised what the kids can do."

"They can all do magic?" Selene asked.

"Yes, Sarah was the first. Back when we were still open to boarders. One of them got a little rowdy and she got scared and made all the glass in the room explode."

"How old was she at the time?"

"Five. Liam was just a few months old, and Gail wasn't even pregnant with Chloe yet." Zach explained. "Anyway, it was apparently such a big surge of accidental magic that some local MACUSA agents were sent to investigate. They cleaned everything up, modified our guests memories and explained everything to us, that when Sarah turned eleven, she would be invited to a school, etc."

"And she attends Salem Witches Institute?"

"Yeah, she got invites from Ilvermony and Salem and she decided she preferred Salem. When the Admissions Officer for Salem came to visit us, she told us that Liam and Chloe both had magic as well."

"Unusual, three first-generations in a single family." Selene noted.

"Yeah, Professor Fontaine mentioned that she said it was clear we'd been blessed by Lady Magic. I don't know much about that, but I'm proud of all my kids. Sarah's about to go into her fourth year at Salem and Liam's due to start at Ilvermony next year and Chloe's chomping at the bit to go to Salem when she turns eleven."

A mixture of bemusement and fondness were present in Zach's eyes as he talked about his kids.

"Anyway. I doubt you came here to talk about the kids. How can I help you?"

Stefan and Selene both looked at Damon and motioned for him to be the one to proceed with the explanation. Before he could begin though, the door to the living room opened and a woman entered.

"Zach, honey, what's going on? I got this weird message from Sarah; she seems to think we're in trouble with the magical police."

Zach stood up and met Gail at the door, guiding her further into the room and shutting the door behind her once more. He led her over to the sofa's they were occupying and waved a hand towards Stefan.

"I'm sure you remember Stefan."

"Yes of course. Hello again Stefan."

"Gail, sorry for dropping in unannounced like this."

"This is Stefan's brother Damon, and Director Picquery of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Hello?"

Gail looked between the three guests and then at Zach, noticing the worry in his eyes.

"So, what's going on?"

Damon took a deep breath and explained everything to them, about Maya, about Black, and about the fact that they believed that she and Zach and their kids were in danger.

"What are our options?" Gail asked as soon as they finished explaining the danger.

"You have three choices. You can tell us to leave, and we'll go, we'll provide some discrete watchers to keep any eye on you and your family if we can."

"The kids are in danger, what options do we have to protect them?"

"You can stay here, we can ward the property and provide around-the-clock protection from some Aurors until Black is caught, this still carries some risk with it."

"Or?"

"The third and best option. We can move you all to another town, one in another state would be best. We would ward that location and provide you with protection of course, but the risk of Black finding you would be considerably less, especially if you were to go by a different last name."

"We'll do it." Gail said decisively.

"Gail…"

"This is the kids Zach. If moving is the best way to keep them safe, then we should do it."

Zach nodded.

"Okay. How is this going to work?"

"So, what's the plan to protect Maya?" Lexi asked.

"Stefan, Maya, Dobby, and I are moving to Mystic Falls."

"Wouldn't that be an obvious place for Black to look for her though?" Enzo queried. "I mean Charlus and Dorea took him in, right? So, he's gotta know about your history."

"Yeah, we discussed that, but Director Calhoun and Aradia are of the opinion that there is no place better to protect Maya."

"Did they say why?"

"Apparently it has something to do with us both living and dying there, as well as the fact that generations of Salvatore's have done the same. Our blood runs through the earth there, was how they put it." Stefan explained, having been told all this by Damon before they went to visit Zach.

"What does that even mean?"

"Magical mumbo jumbo."

Stefan frowned slightly at Damon's disgruntled mutter but didn't rebuke him. It had kind of been a lot of magical mumbo jumbo, but it had made sense as well.

"Basically, when Lady Magic name Damon as Maya's Goddaughter she magically declared Maya to be a part of the Salvatore family. Which means that blood wards can be included in the protections with us anchoring them."

"And since generations of Salvatores have lived and died in Mystic Falls, then the blood wards will be the strongest there." Damon finished. "Apparently it's part of the reasons wards on ancient ancestral homes are so strong."

"The Horde and Director Calhoun's team are going to add other layers of wards on the house, as many as they can but the blood wards will be the base and make all the rest even stronger."

"We talked to Zach and Gail today and they've agreed to move somewhere safer for themselves and their family. So, we'll be moving into the Boarding House as soon as possible."

Maggie and Enzo exchanged looks, they'd had a long discussion about it last night and both of them were in agreement.

"Enzo and I will be going to Mystic Falls with you, we'll start looking for a place straight away."

"You don't have to do that."

"We know, but we want to. You and Maya, even Stefan, you are our family."

"I prefer to think of Stefan as that annoying distant cousin that's always hanging around, but you can't get rid of. –"

"– Hey!"

"– But Maggie's right, you're our family, mate. Through thick and thin, and we're going to Mystic Falls with you."

"Thank you. You don't have to look for your own place though, the Boarding House is massive. You could live with us there; I know Maya would love it if you did."

"If that's what you want."

"It is."

"Lee and I will only be one phone call away if you need us." Lexi caught Damon's eye and held it, "any of you."

"Thank you, Lexi. That means a lot."

"You should get that one, it looks like a castle."

Damon laughed softly and laid a gentle kiss on Maya's forehead.

After a long discussion, Zach and Gail had decided that a house in either Massachusetts or Connecticut would work best for them. Sarah was a boarder at the Salem Witches Institute, but could easily visit on weekends if her parents moved to either of those states. Liam had been down to start Ilvermony in a year's time but after learning about the New York Academy for the gifted, Zach and Gail were considering signing both Chloe and Liam up there, since they'd have to move schools anyway and could attend the Academy as day students.

Damon had, after a lot of arguing, convinced them to let him pay for their new house, and to "purchase" the boarding house from them. Zach had pointed out that even though it was his name on the deed to the house, in reality it still belonged to Damon and Stefan. Damon had been quick to counter with the fact that Zach had lived in the house all his life and He himself hadn't set foot inside it in the past fifty-six years. Not to mention he was dead and technically couldn't legally own property. The argument had gone on for a while, but Zach had finally conceded when Damon threatened to just wire the money into their bank account.

He was now busy looking for a property in either of the states that could be purchased, warded by the goblins and Director Calhoun's team, and moved into within the next two weeks. It was complicated by the fact that the house needed to be a certain distance from the closest neighbour for the most complete warding to be laid. However, since Zach and Gail both had jobs where they could work from home, he didn't have to worry about ensuring it was close enough to a town for them to be able to easily travel to and from work. Once he'd got a short list of options, he would send it to Zach and Gail, minus the prices which he knew they would probably balk at, and allow them to pick what worked best for them.

Maya had decided to come and help Damon choose some options. Talking to Sam yesterday had clearly helped, she was still subdued, but that was better than the sheer rage that had been radiating off of her yesterday. He thought perhaps sparring with Enzo had helped as well, allowed her to clear her mind for a bit and refocus her emotions. Aradia had been correct when she'd recommended that Maya should start learning to meditate from Takeshi. She had struggled with it at first, but she'd persevered, practicing every single day until she'd managed to find her centre. Sometimes alone, but more often than not with Enzo who had promised to start teaching her how to use a sword soon. Something Maya was thrilled about, Damon less so, but she was so excited about it that he didn't have the heart to put his foot down and say no.

"I think the castle might be a bit more extravagant than Zach and Gail would want."

"But living in a castle would be so cool. You should at least give them the option."

"Okay, I'll include it on the list."

"If Zach and Gail don't want it, can I, have it?"

"Sure. As soon as you're eighteen and old enough to legally buy a house you can have it."

"Kalital says that property is a good investment. I could buy it and rent it out to people on holiday and then when it's safer we can live in it." Maya grinned at him, "Just think how cool it would be if I could tell people I owned a castle."

"Don't you already own a castle in Wales?" Stefan asked, clearly having been tuned into the conversation despite the book he was reading.

"A ruined one!" Maya waved a hand at the screen, "This is a modern castle, with all the necessary amenities. That's a thousand times better than a bunch of stones."

Damon sighed, as much as he liked the fact that Maya wasn't dwelling on Black, he wasn't sure this conversation was any better. He could just imagine Maggie and Lexi's faces if they found out Damon had acquiesced to Maya's wish to purchase a thirty-million-dollar property, just because owning a castle would be, quote unquote 'cool'.

"Lets focus on finding something for Zach and Gail first and when we meet with Kalital next you can speak to him about it and see if he thinks it's a good investment."

He could see Stefan shaking his head out of the corner of his eye, and winced internally, there was no way this wasn't getting back to the others.

"So, what other ones should we put on the list?"

He clicked on one and showed it to her.

"Not that one, it's too close to that road."

"This one?"

"That one looks like it needs a lot of work to be habitable."

Damon nodded in agreement, that one was a definite no from him as well.

"Okay, what about, this one?"

Maya studied the pictures carefully and nodded.

"That one's a definite maybe. It's not as cool as the castle but it looks very nice."

He added it to the list and moved on to the next option. After they'd gone through all of the possibilities, they had a shortlist of seven, including the castle which Maya insisted remain on the list despite the fact that Damon was positive Gail and Zach wouldn't want something that ostentatious. Damon emailed all of the information about the properties, excluding the price, to Zach, asking them to pick one and let him know as soon as possible so that he could arrange for it to be purchased. He also sent them Aradia's contact details so that they could enquire about enrolling Liam and Chloe at the Academy. He'd already spoken to Aradia about it and had offered to pay for their school fees, which Zach and Gail had both politely declined. They both earned enough to pay for their kids tuition and were both insistent that Damon was doing more than enough in buying them a new house as well as giving them the market value of the Boarding House.

"Damon?"

"Yeah, kiddo."

"When we move to the new house, can I decorate my bedroom?"

"Of course."

"Can I paint the walls myself?"

"If you want to change the wall colour, I can hire someone to do that."

"No, I mean can I paint murals and pictures on the walls and ceiling?"

Well, it was better than asking for a castle at least.

"Yes, you can, if that's what you want to do."

Maya kissed his cheek.

"Thanks Damon."

With that she skipped off, probably to get a snack from Dobby. Stefan shook his head and smirked at him.

"What?"

"She conned you."

"What?"

"She asked for the castle first, so that you'd be more likely to say yes to the much more reasonable request to let her paint murals and pictures onto the walls and ceiling in her bedroom at the Boarding House."

Damon considered Stefan's words for a moment and smiled broadly. She'd totally conned him. He was so proud. He'd taught her well.

Stefan, noticing the gleam in Damon's eyes, gave up and left to find a more sympathetic ear, like Maggie or Lexi. It was useless to vent to Enzo, he'd be just as proud as Damon was.