"Okay. What did I miss?"

Before anyone could answer him, Maya flew into his arms, holding him as if he was her lifeline. He felt her tremble against him, her tears soaking through his shirt. He hugged her back, stroking her hair and whispering soothing words in her ear, before staring down everyone else in the room.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"John Gilbert happened," Stefan said, his face grim. "We were at the Grill, having some milkshakes, and he was there too, talking to Pearl. Maya used her legilimency to read his mind, and she found out he was planning to kill Pearl and everyone else who lives with her."

Damon felt a surge of relief that Maya was not hurt, but it didn't stop him from fantasising about hunting John Gilbert down and ripping him into tiny pieces.

"I invited Pearl, Anna, and Harper to come here, until we can figure something out. John Gilbert knows where they've been living, so it's not safe for them to go back there. At least here, they'll be better protected." Stefan said, explaining the presence of the other three vampires.

Damon nodded, his expression softening. He did not trust Pearl, and he knew she did not trust him either, but he did not want her to die. And Anna and Harper were innocent, they did not deserve to be caught in the crossfire. He tightened his hold on Maya, feeling her calm down a little. He kissed her forehead, and whispered:

"I'm here kiddo, I've got you."

He guided her gently to one of the vacant couches, settling down and pulling her close to him, wrapping his arm around her protectively, and letting her rest her head on his chest. She had stopped trembling, but she still clung to him, it didn't seem like she was willing to move away from him or engage with anyone else in the room just yet. He turned his gaze to Pearl, who looked weary and worried.

"It's fine. You're welcome to stay as long as needed, we'll figure out a way to deal with John Gilbert. I promise."

Pearl inclined her head, her eyes shining with gratitude.

"Thank you, Damon." She said, her voice soft and sincere.

"Dobby,"

The house elf appeared in the room with a sharp crack, eyes filled with concern as he gazed at Maya.

"Yes, mister Damon?"

"Could you get us all some hot chocolate please?"

"Dobby be doing that, right away."

"Thanks, Dobby. Pearl, Anna, and Harper will be staying with us for a while. Could you ask Special Agent Blye to join us as well please, and would you be able to make up some rooms for our guests."

"Dobby will do so."

Dobby disappeared with another sharp crack. Nobody spoke, whilst they waited for him to return with Special Agent Blye. Tyler was switching between looking at Maya with concerned eyes, and the three vampires across from him with mild suspicion. Stefan looked guiltier than normal, Damon wasn't sure why, but probably for not stopping Maya from reading John Gilbert's mind or for inviting Pearl and the other two into the boarding house, possibly both. Damon couldn't really blame him for either, he couldn't say for sure that he would have done anything differently.

Maggie and Enzo were watching him, he could see the burning desire in their eyes to ask him what he had found out on his excursion with Alaric. Anna and Harper looked like they were trying to blend in with the furniture, they were so still, he wasn't even sure they were breathing. Pearl on the other hand was watching him and Maya with a distinctly soft look, Anna's hand clutched so tightly in her own, that both their knuckles were white. All in all, it was a grim and quiet scene that greeted Special Agent Blye when she walked in.

Dobby followed a moment later with mugs of hot chocolate that he handed out to everyone, even managing to coax Maya into sitting up enough to take her own mug. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, and she looked exhausted. Agent Blye examined her carefully, concern deep in her own eyes before switching her gaze to Damon.

"Something's happened?"

"John Gilbert was planning on killing Pearl, Harper, and Anna. Maya used legilimency on him, and discovered this. We've invited them to stay with us until we can figure out a way to deal with him."

"Okay. I'll let my team and Chris's team know and will pass on the information to Commander Graves. He's a non-magical human though, so unless he actively attempts to harm or kill Maya or the rest of you, there's not much more we can do than keep an eye on him."

"I figured. That's not the only problem though." Damon sighed, "The rest of the vampires from the tomb, the one's who didn't make it to you, have apparently banded together and are plotting revenge on the founding families."

"Do you know where they are?"

"No." Damon shook his head, "Unfortunately our source died before we could get any more information than that out of him. John Gilbert might know, but I'm not willing to trust that he would tell me the truth if I tried asking him."

Agent Blye nodded.

"I'll pass the information on, and we'll keep an eye out, try and nip it in the bud before it becomes an issue."

"I can try and find them." Anna offered.

"Annabelle –"

"It's my fault mama. They wouldn't have got out if I'd made sure the witch was good enough to reseal the tomb after I got you out."

Pearl frowned slightly, but nodded.

"I'll try to help as well, but we'll have to be careful about it."

"I'll see if Director Picquery can spare someone to help you." Agent Blye offered. "Inside the wards on this house, or if you're with Maya, Damon, Stefan, Maggie, or Enzo, then my team and Chris's can and will protect you, but we don't have anyone else to spare to follow you if you go off alone."

"I understand."

Agent Blye nodded and stood.

"I'll go and make my reports to Commander Graves now. I'll let you know what they say."

Damon nodded. He hadn't expected any more than that, there primary responsibility was protecting his family from the threat posed by Sirius Black. The vampires and John Gilbert weren't part of that. Not that they wouldn't step in and act if someone other than Sirius attacked any of them, but until they proved to be an actual threat, the aurors would keep themselves removed from the situation.

"Anna and I spent some time in India. We were in Agra when the construction on the Taj Mahal began. We had to leave before it was finished, but even incomplete it was magnificent. I always thought we would go back and see it one day."

"You still could." Maya pointed out.

She'd narrowed her choices for her combined math and history project down to three; the Taj Mahal, the Ranakpur Jain Temple, and the Konark Sun Temple. She'd placed pictures of the three in front of her, trying to decide which to choose. Pearl who was sitting in the living room with her, reading one of the many books it contained, had begun to tell Maya about her experiences of living in India in the seventeenth century.

"True. And travel certainly is easier in this day and age. Perhaps, Anna will agree to a trip this…"

She broke off as the door flew open and Damon strode in, followed by Stefan, Elena, and Bonnie.

"Absolutely not!"

"Just hear me out," Elena pleaded.

Her gaze passed straight over Maya and landed on Pearl, startled. Apparently, Stefan hadn't mentioned that Pearl, Anna, and Harper, were staying with them. Perhaps because it was to keep them safe from Elena's uncle, Stefan probably didn't want her telling John Gilbert where they were. Or maybe whatever was currently going on, had distracted him from catching Elena up on recent events.

"Uh, Hello Pearl."

Peral inclined her head, face carefully blank.

"Miss Gilbert."

Elena smiled weakly at her, before looking down at Maya and smiling much more genuinely.

"Hello Maya, how are you?"

"Konbanwa. Anata no koto ga kirai da yo. Naze itsumo nozomarete inai tokoro ni warikonde kuru no desu ka?" Good Evening. I don't like you. Why do you always come in where you are not wanted?

Pearl, it seemed spoke Japanese, at the very least enough to understand some of what Maya had said to Elena, because she lifted a hand up to cover her mouth. Maya figured, from the amused look in her eyes that she was probably hiding a smile. Stefan and Damon had been picking up a few phrases here and there, but Maya doubted they'd understood much more than 'good evening', still Damon's raised brow and warning glance told her that he got the gist of what she was doing even if he didn't understand what she had said. Bonnie, still slightly behind Elena, just looked startled, whilst Elena's smile wavered, and her brow furrowed slightly.

"I'm okay thank you." She glanced at Stefan, before looking back at Maya. "I thought you were learning Norwegian?"

"That was last term. Now I'm learning Japanese."

"I see." She clearly didn't, but she shrugged it off and turned back to Damon. "Will you please just listen."

"No." Damon replied in a perfectly pleasant yet uncompromising tone. "I'm not giving the device to Isobel, who will turn around and give it to John. In case you've forgotten Elena, I'm a vampire, Stefan's a vampire, Maggie and Enzo are vampires. I'm not giving John Gilbert a weapon he can use against us."

"I can remove the original spell." Bonnie added, earnestly.

"And if Sheila were here telling me that I might believe her. You on the other hand have been learning magic for what three months?"

"Grams is away, she wont be back for a few weeks."

"Jeremy will be dead by then; we can't wait for her to get back. It's Bonnie or nothing." Elena said.

"No. I'll get Jeremy back my own way."

Stefan sighed and rubbed his face before looking at his brother.

"How are you gonna do that. Firstly, we don't know where Isobel is –"

"I taught her. I can find her."

"Say that you can. What then? Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."

"My plan is still better than handing over a weapon to someone we know can't be trusted."

"Jeremy is my brother!"

"Stefan, Maggie, Enzo, and Maya are my family, and I will protect them over everybody else."

"But Bonnie will remove the spell, it will be safe to hand over. John and Isobel will never know."

Maya's head had been swivelling back and forth between the participants in the argument, but now she turned to Bonnie, a doubtful look plastered across her face. Negating an enchantment was serious magic, something she had only just begun to learn herself and she had two- and a-bit years on Bonnie in terms of magical learning. Damon seemed to share her doubts.

"Can she? I mean no offense, but you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing."

Damon shook his head and snorted.

"It's not piano lessons, honey."

"What's your favourite book?"

"What?"

"Name a book, any book."

Damon looked down at Maya who shrugged and grinned.

"Name a book… How about, 'Call of the wild', Jack London?"

Bonnie turned to look at the shelves of books and a minute later a book flew out and landed in Damon's hands. He examined it and snorted again.

"Jack London. Great parlour trick. I know a pair of ten-year-olds who can do that."

Maya laughed, Sora's younger twin siblings, could do that and more, and they weren't even old enough to have wands yet. Elena frowned at Maya and then looked back at Damon.

"We're doing this, Damon. And we're doing it my way. Now give me the device We're wasting time!"

Damon stared at her for a moment, eyebrow raised. Maya glared at the older teenager; how dare she try to order her babbo around! Stefan shifted awkwardly, but looked away from Elena, making it clear he would side with Damon if it came down to it.

"I don't know what gave you the impression that you get to give me orders. But you don't. I'm not giving you the device, which will inevitably wind up in John Gilbert's hands and be used against me and mine!"

"I'm trying to save my brother!"

"And I'm trying to protect my entire family!" Damon snarled back.

"I've already told you; the device will be deactivated they won't be able to use it. Bonnie will make sure of that!"

"I can do it Damon, I'm sure of it." Bonnie insisted.

"Have you ever actually removed a spell from an enchanted object before?" Maya asked, "It's not nearly as easy as it sounds."

Bonnie and Elena turned to her, their expressions contrasting sharply. Bonnie's look was assessing, as if she was suddenly realising something. Maya was not impressed. That it had taken her this long to figure out she was around another witch, was just more points against her in Maya's book. Elena's look was patronising, as if she was pitying Maya for her ignorance. She wrapped an arm around Bonnie's shoulder, showing her loyalty and support.

"If Bonnie says she can do this then she can." Elena said firmly, her tone leaving no room for doubt. "She's a powerful witch, and I'm sure she knows a lot more about magic than you do."

Maya felt a surge of anger at Elena's words. She knew Bonnie was a witch, she knew the other girl was powerful, but she also knew that she was inexperienced. Power was nothing without control, experience, and knowledge to go along with it. Maya had known that since her first week at Hogwarts, since her first day!

"Really?" Maya challenged. "Like what? Levitate books? Light candles? Make flowers bloom?" She waved her hand dismissively. "Those are child's play –"

"What if you helped me?" Bonnie asked, leaving a ringing silence in the wake of her question.

Elena looked between Maya and Bonnie in confusion. It took her a couple of minutes to understand what Bonnie had been implying.

"You're a witch?" without waiting for Maya to answer she whirled on Stefan, "What about your whole Maya's just a normal kid spiel?"

"Maya is just a normal kid! She goes to school, she hangs out with her friends, she plays soccer, and paints, and she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. The fact that she has magic doesn't change any of that."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because contrary to what you seem to believe, Elena. You don't have a right to know every last thing about us." Damon's tone was as cold as the arctic as he stared at Elena.

Shock, swiftly followed by hurt flashed across Elena's face, but Bonnie spoke before Elena could say anything else.

"Fine. Elena understands that, and you're right. That Maya is a witch wasn't and isn't any of our business. But this doesn't change the fact that Isobel has Jeremy, and she will kill him if we don't hand over the device. If Maya helped me remove the enchantment, would you give it to us?"

Damon looked at Maya, who shrugged and nodded. She was willing to help. She didn't want Jeremy to die, she didn't particularly want Elena to die either, she just wanted her to A. not treat her like she was a baby, B. leave Stefan alone and find somebody else to date, and C. stop expecting the world to revolve around her.

"Do you have the grimiore?" Maya asked Bonnie, "Was there a reversal spell in there already, or will we need to craft one?"

Bonnie pulled a large heavy tome out of her bag, and hesitated.

"Parts of it are written in Latin and possible French."

"I can read both." Maya informed her, holding her hands out for the book.

Bonnie opened it to the correct page and sat down next to Maya, situating the book between the two of them.

"So, this is Emily's description of the device, how it works, what it does etc. The original spell she used to get it to work." Bonnie flipped to the next page. "Here's the spell to remove the enchantment. Emily created it because apparently, the original spell would only work in a single instance, then the enchantment would need to be removed and the device respelled if anyone wanted to use it again."

Maya nodded and began to read over both pages. It was exactly as Bonnie had said and, it tallied with some of what Himiko had taught her about enchanted objects and removing enchantments. Once she'd finished reading the spell that would remove the enchantment, she looked at Damon and nodded.

"I can do it."

"On your own?"

"Yeah, but Bonnie can help if she wants to." She turned to the older witch, "Have you ever channelled another witch before?"

"Grams taught me a little bit about it, but she's always been the one to channel me so far."

"If you don't mind, then I can channel you as we perform the spell."

"Sure."

"Let's do that then." Damon said, going to retrieve the device from where he'd hidden it.

Maya and Bonnie both stood up and headed over to the large desk by the fireplace. Bonnie lay the grimiore down open to the correct page and Maya set up a ring of candles which burst into life one after the other, in a perfect demonstration of the control she had gained over her magic in the past couple of years. Bonnie smiled, looking impressed. Elena not so much, turning to Damon as he returned, object in hand.

"So, you'll trust Maya, a thirteen-year-old, over Bonnie?" Elena's voice dripped with sarcastic derision.

"A thirteen-year-old who's been studying magic for two and a half years, with extremely competent teachers, and whom I've seen perform multiple successful spells. Against Bonnie who, no offence, didn't even believe she was a witch until four months ago." Damon gave Elena a mocking look, "Absolutely."

"No offence taken." Bonnie assured him.

Damon handed the device over to Maya who set it down in the middle of the circle of candles and held out a hand to Bonnie, who took it. As soon as Maya had begun to channel Bonnie's power as well as her own, she gave a nod to the older witch, and they began to chant in unison.

"Augurium erit,

Exponentia confringetur,

Nisi metallum manere,

Per ignem et aquam,

In terra et aere,

Negare vincula,

Reverti quod dictum est!"

Maya kept an eye on the object as they chanted. Watching as the soft silver light that had surrounded it slowly faded, until it had completely dissipated. Once that happened, she stopped channelling Bonnie and the two witches fell silent, releasing their hold on each other.

"It's done. The enchantment is completely removed." Maya reported, flashing a thumbs up at her godfather.

He picked it up off the desk and tossed it to Elena, who fumbled slightly but managed to catch it.

"Lets go give this to Isobel, shall we?"

"Hello?"

"On your doorstep you'll find what you've been looking for. As well as the contact details for a witch who will spell it to ensure it still works."

"You think it doesn't?"

"Damon Salvatore handed it over way to easily for that to be the case."

"And my ring?"

"Don't screw this up. You know what you have to do, John."

"I got it. I won't fail."

"You better not. Katherine wants as many of those tomb vampires dead as possible, and I want to add two more to that list."

"Let me guess."

"Stefan and Damon. I don't want this life for her."

"That was always part of the plan. Consider them gone."

"She's our daughter, John. We owe that to her."

"I know."