"You think I'm going to sleep in my dead sister's bed?"

—

According to Jenna, Elena — that was her niece's name, who was seventeen, like her, which was a little awkward — had a boyfriend who she'd been spending all of her time with.

Jeremy had a girlfriend, too — which he vehemently denied, they were strictly friends — and Jenna thought the entire thing was funny.

Elena's boyfriend had a really annoying brother, according to Jenna, who kept shoving his nose in Elena's business and Jenna thought it was super weird.

Elena was also competing for Miss Mystic Falls — whatever that meant, Eden thought it sounded stupid but she didn't say anything — and she was hoping to win.

They ate McDonald's on the way back to the house, and Eden's nerves bundled together at the thought of seeing it again.

She hadn't been since Jeremy was a kid, but she could remember growing up there. Spending summers at the house, bonding with Miranda and Jenna.

She wasn't ready to face Miranda's death yet. She'd mourned her, of course, with Jenna, but she still felt saddened by the thought of her.

It was part of the reason Eden came back. She didn't want anything to happen to Jenna without her being around for it. She couldn't lose her too. Not Jenna.

"And, we're here," Jeremy nodded to the house as they pulled in. "Wait, are you gonna be staying in Mom and Dad's old room?"

Jenna and Eden exchanged a look.

"You think I'm going to sleep in my dead sister's bed?" She asked him with raised eyebrows.

He shrugged, seemingly brushing off her morose comment. She liked that, liked Jeremy. He was a lot like Jenna, just quieter. Subtle jokes and dark humor — she had a feeling they'd get pretty close.

"I'm just saying, it's been empty for months. Not like they'll care."

Jenna and Eden burst into laughter at his comment, Jeremy smiling at the joke.

"No," Jenna shook her head. "She'll bunk with me but Eden's trying to get her own place."

Jeremy looked at her in surprise. "I thought you were seventeen."

Eden nodded. "I am, I know here you have to be eighteen, so I'll probably have Jenna co-sign. My parents left me some money so I'm covered for awhile."

"Oh," his face dropped a bit at her words. "Okay, cool."

"But I'll come over all the time," she pointed out, noticing the way he glanced off, seemingly disappointed. "You'll get pretty sick of me."

"I'm already sick of you and we've only been in a car for three hours," he replied with a small smile.

Eden chuckled, opening the passenger door and getting out of Jenna's car, walking to the trunk and pulling out her suitcase.

"I'm serious about rooming with me," Jenna said quietly as Jeremy unlocked the door and walked inside. "You can sleep in their room but I haven't even gone in there yet. I couldn't — I didn't want to...it was her stuff."

Eden gave Jenna an understanding smile. "I know, I don't wanna go in there. She'd throw a shoe at me if I touched her perfume. Besides, she and Gray probably made that bed unusable."

Jenna snorted, opening the door as Eden walked in, closing it behind her. "Oh yeah, we'll have to burn it."

They laughed for a moment before Jenna stilled.

"Elena!" She called upstairs as Eden took a glance around the house. "You home?"

Stairs next to the door, to the left a living room, where she assumed the kitchen was, and then bedrooms upstairs.

There was no response, but Jeremy yelled a moment later. "She's not here, Jenna!"

Jenna rolled her eyes, looking apologetically at Eden. "Sorry, she was supposed to be here to see you. I guess she and Stefan had plans."

Eden shrugged. "No biggie," she replied. "I'll see her when she comes home. Which room's yours?"

"Oh," Jenna face-palmed and led Eden upstairs to the first room on the left. "Here, you can just put your shit in here, I know you're gonna do your," she lowered her voice, "magic thing, so I'll make sure Jeremy stays out."

Eden shrugged. "Doesn't matter much, he's family so he's allowed to know. I actually have to write a letter, thanks for reminding me."

"Letter to who?"

"MACUSA, the magical government here. I have dual-citizenship, so it makes it easier but I'm not supposed to use magic until it's approved, which will probably take weeks because everyone's fled to the states and their backed up. At least that's what Hermione said."

Jenna looked thoughtful for a second. "Hermione's the smart one, right? With the pretty smile? Didn't you have a crush on her when you were younger?"

Eden nodded. "Yeah, I'd still do her too, but she's in a relationship with Ron so that's out of the question."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Jenna asked. "I remember you saying you had one but I can't remember how you broke up."

Eden's face tensed and she looked away, trying to blink away the image of his lifeless eyes, crushed under rubble of the place she'd once called home.

"Uh," Eden cleared her throat, suddenly feeling suffocated in the small bedroom. "He left me. He's gone." It wasn't technically a lie, but she didn't want to see Jenna's pitying stare again. 

She wanted Jenna to smile at her, to distract her, make her feel better.

Jenna grimaced. "Sorry, Dee, I'll kill him if you want."

Oh, the irony.

"No," Eden smiled tightly. "It's okay, I'll get over it. Thanks for the offer."

"You got it. Hey, can you cook?"

Eden blinked at the sudden shift in conversation and shrugged. "I can make pasta and, like, sandwiches."

"Pasta's good. You wanna cook tonight? Actually," Jenna shook her head. "Sorry, you're probably exhausted. Get some rest, I'll climb in tonight and we'll hang out tomorrow."

Eden nodded with a fond smile as Jenna shut the door, leaving her alone in the room.

Light gray painted walls, a simple wooden brown bed and grey sheets, a nightstand on either side. A white dresser next to the door and a large mirror.

It was simple. It was nice. It already felt like home.

Eden sighed, putting her suitcase on the bed and unzipping it. She took off her jacket, tossing it next to the suitcase and dug into the suitcase for the scissors.

She could've asked for them, rather than bring them all the way to Virginia from London, but she didn't want to get questions.

And she needed to fix her holster. As soon as MACUSA approved her magic use, she would. Surely.

It felt strange, cutting the duct tape off the holster and letting it fall gently on the bed. Her wand rolled a fraction to the right and Eden glanced down at it.

Eden hadn't actually performed any magic since May, the night of the battle. She didn't want to. She couldn't.

Her magic begged to be use, like an itch she couldn't scratch. Something inside of her wanted her to cast a spell, to let off some steam but she couldn't. Not after the last time she'd used it.

That night...she couldn't go back there. She didn't trust herself with magic. Optimism didn't run in her blood like Hermione, she wasn't inherently good like Harry, either. Not anymore.

She sighed, grabbing her wand and holster and walking to the nightstand on the left side of the bed, furthest from the door next to the window. It was clear, only a lamp sat on it, turned off and lightly dusted from lack of use.

She opened the drawer and placed her wand and holster gently inside.

Eden would return to magic eventually...when it was time. But she wasn't ready yet. She couldn't carry the burden of her own abilities with her, she had to place them away.

She debated on casting a nonverbal, wand-less locking charm, but she couldn't risk it. She needed to be here, and Jenna wouldn't rummage through her things anyway.

She would be fine.

Eden dug around in her suitcase again, pulling out item after item and hanging them the Muggle way in the closet. She left a gap between her and Jenna's clothes — she didn't have many, unlike her sister, who seemed to love shopping — and tucked her three pairs of shoes against the wall.

Pulling out a few framed photographs, charmed to be still in the presence of Muggles, she placed them gently on the nightstand. Finally, she pulled out a small brown teddy bear with a missing eye and placed it on the windowsill.

Her dad got it for her when she was a baby, before she was born, and he used to sing to her with it, have it tell her stories in different accents and voices.

She missed him. She missed her mom, too.

Her parents were very different in ages, her mom twenty-nine when she died, her father nearing fifty. It was a bit of a scandal, really, in the Gilbert home.

Miranda was furious with her father for years and took five years before finally agreeing to meet Eden. Jenna followed suit and immediately they all became close.

Despite the age gap between Miranda and Eden, even larger than she and Jenna, she was very protective of Eden and they were very close.

But Jenna had always been Eden's favorite, and Eden had a suspicion it was the same in Jenna's case.

They were closer in age, Miranda being over a decade older than both of them. Jenna was the accidental child, the product of a divorce.

She was loved regardless, but the fact remained. Miranda raised her, hence the resentment towards heir father when he ran off with a younger woman and had an entirely new child.

As if that wasn't enough, it was in Europe, where Eden's mother met their father. Eden was born and raised there, while their father made trips back and forth, trying to spread affection to all his kids.

In fact, the only reason Miranda agreed to meet Eden in the first place was because her mother died and their father begged her to bring family. Eden was five, and she couldn't remember much about her mom, other than a pretty smile and a good singing voice.

It was her dad who calmed her bad dreams and baked her cake on her birthday and took her to Diagon Alley and threatened her first boyfriend.

(Which, was not Fred, despite popular belief. It was actually Seamus Finnegan, who later confessed he only dated her to get his mom of his back about being in love with Dean Thomas. They remained friends after the amicable breakup.)

Eden stuffed the suitcase under the bed and plopped herself down, exhaustion hitting her as she laid her head against the pillow. She wanted to shower, rinse off the smell of airport and that fishy-sweaty man from the seat next to her, but she was far too tired.

She'd do it...tomorrow...

—

Her mouth was gagged, one eye shut from the bruises forming along her skin, tugging it closed. She could feel the restraints against her wrists, tight, rough, securing her in place. She refused to give the satisfaction of so much as a whimper.

"Hello, pet," his voice purred in her ear, nipping at her earlobe.

She winced despite herself, cringing as bile threatened to overcome her. She swallowed thickly, trying to picture her happy place. Picture Harry's eyes — her lifeline, her savior, her best friend. He'd come for her. He always did.

"Fuck off," she ground out, grunting when his hand grabbed her neck, shoving him to look at her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," a smile tugged at his lips, threatening to overcome his dark features. He was vile. Disgusting. A pig. She hated him. She wanted him dead. "You fight me, but your body betrays you."

Eden glared at him, willing him to die. For him to go into cardiac arrest and have a heart attack. For him to burst into flames and take her with him. For him to combust and blow against the wall. She wanted him dead.

"Fuck," she spat out. "You."

He smirked menacingly. "Your wish is my command, pet."

Eden woke up to someone shaking her, eyes wide in terror, looking over the face on the bed next to her. Sweat covered her skin, and tears blurred her vision. She gasped for air, sitting up and trying to catch her breath.

Someone was rubbing her back gently, calming her, whispering words, but she could only hear his voice. He was here, he had to be. Where was he? She was trapped again. The room was too small, she was trapped again.

She stumbled off the bed, tripping over herself and rushing to the window. She curled up on the windowsill, hugging the teddy bear sitting against it, and letting out a sob into the stuffed animal.

It was quiet for a long time. She cried for what could have been hours before she realized where she was. Jenna. The Gilberts. She was okay, she was safe.

She couldn't bare to look at Jenna, shame flooding her. She shouldn't have stayed here, she should've prepared better and gotten an apartment sooner. Jenna wouldn't sleep now and she'd have to answer questions she wasn't ready for and —

"Here."

Eden managed a small glance up, fearful for Jenna's angry face, but was met with compassion and sympathy. She was holding out a phone, Eden's phone, which was ringing a number.

"Good morning, sunshine," the voice said from the phone.

Eden let out a sob, looking at Jenna gratefully, taking the phone and holding it to her ear.

"Harry?" She asked quietly, nervously, her voice shaking from the tears. "I had a bad dream."

"That's not good," he responded softly. "Are you holding Patches?"

Patches. Eden smiled softly at the name, the one he'd given the bear when they were thirteen, just before third year. The button fell from its eye and Harry had taken a shoelace and toilet paper, wrapping it around the eye and calling it a pirate. He called it Patches, because it had an eyepatch, and thought it was a better name than 'Teddy.'

Ironic now, considering he was watching their godson with the same name.

"Yeah," Eden sniffled. "I woke Jenna up."

Jenna had taken a seat back on the bed looking at Eden in worry. Her face softened. "No, it's okay," she smiled kindly.

"Well, that's even more not good," Harry said. "Which was dream was it?"

"The cell," she said after a moment. "It's always the cell."

Long silence.

"I will find him," Harry promised thickly, clearing his throat. He was crying too, she could tell. "I promise."

"Yeah," Eden nodded, tightening her grip on Patches. "I miss you."

"I know, bon," he said softly. "I miss you too. You'll be okay. The first night is always hard. But I know you can do this. You're the strongest person I've ever known."

Tears left Eden's eyes and she closed them tightly, willing the images to leave. She clutched the phone tightly. "I'm scared, bubba."

"Shh," he calmed her gently. "I know. I promise you can do it. When have I ever been wrong, eh?"

Eden snorted. "All the time," she sniffled. "You're always wrong."

"Well, fair enough, but I've never been wrong about you. You can do this. I know you can. You're not coming home until you can use your wand again. I'll be here every night when you wake up, I promise. It's only eight, so I was up with Teddy. I'll be here."

Eden nodded, even though he couldn't see her. She sniffled again, placing Patches down, wiping her eyes with a soft groan. "Okay," she breathed out.

"Yeah?" He asked. "Go make some cookies," he told her. "Bake 'till you drop, love, and then send them my way."

Eden nodded with a small laugh. "Okay," she said quietly. "Thanks, Harry."

"Always," he said easily. "I'm busy today, but please text me as much as you'd like and I'll call you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "Okay. Love you."

"Love you more, bon. Bye."

The call ended and Eden took a breath before looking to her sister.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, standing up. She felt awkward, fiddling with her shirt, which was the same as it was earlier that day. She hadn't changed since falling asleep. "I was really tired, I didn't get a chance to tell you that I—"

Jenna cut her off with a hug, rushing from her place in the bed and pulling her into her arms. She held her head with the back of her head and sniffled against Eden's ear.

"You don't have to talk about it," she said quietly. "I don't expect that. You never have to tell me. But I will be here every night, okay? I know you call Harry, he's your brother, I understand that. But I am here too and I will never, ever let you be alone. Okay?"

Eden couldn't hold back the tears the longer Jenna spoke, comforting her with soft soothing words and running her hand along the back of her head gently.

"I love you, Jenny," she said quietly, burying her face into Jenna's shoulder.

"I love you so much, Dee, don't, it's okay, you don't have to cry, I'm here. You're okay. You're okay. You're okay."

—

Eden was calm when she finished making breakfast — scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, sausage, the works — and Jeremy, Jenna, and Elena came down.

Jenna had fallen back asleep awhile later but Eden couldn't go back to sleep. She took a long shower, dressed, and read in the living room before six-thirty to start making everyone breakfast. She felt bad for the previous night, waking Jenna. She had no idea if she'd awoken Jeremy or Elena too, whether or not she'd been screaming.

She hoped not, but in any case, she felt guilty and wanted to ease things over a bit.

"Nice," Jeremy nodded when he spotted the coffee on the counter. He grabbed a plate of breakfast and set it down on the table. "Thanks, Eden," he smiled up at her brightly, not seeming to register her nerves.

Relief flooded her. Surely, he'd act strange if he'd heard her wake up from night terrors? He didn't appear to have noticed anything.

"Oh," a new voice sounded from next to the wall in the kitchen. "You must be Eden."

Eden turned with a small smile and a hesitant wave. "Hey, what's up dude," she tried to be casual, but her slight accent made it sound incredibly forced. "I'm Eden, yeah, got that right."

She and Elena stared at each other for a moment, looking the other over. They didn't really look alike, but Elena didn't look like her mother that much anyway. She did look a bit like Jeremy, though.

"I made eggs," Eden blurted, gesturing with both hands to the counter. "Eat them!" She meant it more as a suggestion, but it came out forceful and demanding. She cringed. Awesome.

"O-kay," Elena said slowly, giving Eden a strange look. "Thanks."

Eden nodded when Elena took the plate and sat next to Jeremy, eating the food.

"Are you going to school with us?" Elena asked after an awkward silence.

Eden wasn't hungry, she never was in the mornings, so she just stood awkwardly in the kitchen. She felt an urge to dance or run or laugh — and hoped none of those things would actually happen.

"No," Eden frowned. "Why?"

"You're seventeen, right?" At Eden's nod, Elena continued. "So am I. Seventeen-year-olds go to school in America."

"Ah," Eden acknowledged. "I finished school back in Scotland, so I'm...probably going to look for a job. Or something."

"Cool," Elena replied.

"Wow, this is weird," Jeremy looked between the two. "Eden, stop fidgeting like a weirdo and eat food."

"I don't like breakfast," she responded quickly.

He gave her a strange look. "Then why make it?"

Eden shrugged. "Being nice. I like you guys, wanted to make a good impression."

Jeremy nodded. "Okay, well, I'm heading out. Meeting Anna before school. See you after, Eden?"

Eden nodded with a smile and he waved to Elena. "See you, Lena."

Elena stared down at her plate for a long while and Eden was perfectly content looking at the wall. She wanted to say something, continue the conversation, try to be nice — but thirty seconds had passed. Then a minute. Then three minutes.

Five minutes later, Eden was giving Elena an awkward wave before heading to the front door, slipping into the laced up boots she'd had for years and left out this morning. Without another word to Elena, she opened the door and closed it, taking a breath of air.

Fresh air.

Ah, it was chilly.

"Fuck," Eden cursed, turning around to open the door before realizing it was locked. "Nope," she shook her head. Not going to go through another unbearably long awkward pause with Elena just to get a jacket. She'd be fine.

She wandered down the street and debated on walking, which Jeremy appeared to have done, before deciding it would be better than just standing in the cold.

Just as she walked to the sidewalk, a car stopped.

"You must be Eden," a handsome light brown-haired male said from the driver's side of a karmen coupe. "I'm Stefan, Elena's boyfriend."

Eden smiled down at him, reaching her hand to his outstretched one and shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Jenna really likes you."

Stefan smiled, and she noticed he had bright green eyes. Just like Harry, she thought, just a different color.

"Yeah, welcome to Mystic Falls. You look cold, you okay?"

Eden nodded immediately. "Yeah, oh yeah," she said, glancing around. She didn't like being out in the open like this. "I'm fine, just gonna head to the main area of town, I guess."

"Oh," Stefan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It's kind of a long walk. Like a twenty minute drive. If you hop in, we can drop you off before we go to school. I don't mind."

"No," Eden said quickly, immediately regretting it. "It's fine, really, I'm cool."

"You sure?" He asked again, his smile widening.

She glanced back at the door, which Elena was coming out of, giving Eden and Stefan a confused stare. The cold was starting to get to her. Eden's arms were crossed and her hair was blowing as the wind picked up. No way she could walk the whole time. She'd ask to borrow Jenna's car soon, but she should probably get her own.

"You don't mind?" Eden asked.

Stefan shook his head, waving to the backseat. "Come on in," he smiled up at her when Elena finally made her way over. They shared a brief kiss and were off.

—

Eden made a note to never be in the same place as Elena and Stefan ever again.

It was even more awkward than she thought it would be.

They exchanged longing glances, like they kept wanting to say something but didn't because Eden was in the car. Elena would glance back at her occasionally, and Eden kept her head out the window but could feel her eyes on her.

Her leg danced nervously against the floorboard, and she fiddled with her fingers, watching the trees and townsfolk blur past her.

Stefan drove like an old man.

He was slow.

Like, I've-been-alive-a-hundred-years-and-can't-wipe-my-own-ass kind of slow.

And Eden wasn't one to speed, not that she drove very well anyway, but he was slow. Painfully slow. Eden was fairly sure downtown wasn't far from the Gilbert household, but it took nearly forty minutes. She was definitely borrowing Jenna's car next time.

It drove her nuts.

"Okay," Stefan spoke up, pulling into a parking spot outside a small restaurant. "This is Mystic Grill, everyone calls it the Grill. Everything else is just around this area. Text Elena if you need a ride back and we'll get you."

Eden offered a wave and a tight smile.

"Thanks again," she looked at Stefan, opening the backseat car door. "See you at the house, Elena."

"See you."

Not a minute after she left the car, they were gone, probably talking about how incredibly thick the silence was and how much Eden wanted to jump out of the car to stop the awkwardness.

Turning into the grill, she headed straight to the bar, needing a drink desperately.

Annoyance flooded her when the bartender gave her a suspicious look.

Of course. She was seventeen. In the Wizarding World, she could easily grab a pint of Firewhiskey and dance on the tables — but here, in Mystic Falls, Virginia, she was a minor.

A child.

She nearly scoffed. She wasn't a child anymore. Her childhood was stripped from her when Cedric died, leaving her scarred and bruised and naked with fear.

And she couldn't even buy a damn drink.

"Well, hey there."

Eden glanced to the right, where a young man in his mid-twenties sat nursing a drink. She looked to her left, but no one was there.

Was he talking to her?

She looked up at him in confusion, her eyes meeting his own. Piercing blue eyes that seemed to look into her soul. Eden shifted uncomfortably.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked as is eyebrows moved a fraction and a smirk toyed at his lips. "Mate, I'm not interested."

"Mate?" He asked, bringing the drink to his lips. "You British or something?"

"Sort of," she replied, smiling at the bartender when he approached her. "Would you give me a drink if I ask nicely?"

The man shook his head. "Nope."

"I'll take a water then, thanks."

"How old are you?" The blue-eyed man asked her. "You look like you should be in school."

Eden turned to him with an innocent smile. "If I look like I should be in school, maybe you shouldn't be giving me sex eyes. You're, what, twenty-five?"

"Twenty-four," he corrected, a lazy grin on his mouth. "I'm Damon."

Eden nodded, thanking the bartender, who's name was 'Joe,' when he dropped the water in front of her.

"That's good for you," Eden quipped, taking a sip. Oh, how she wished this were Firewshiskey.

"Sassy, I like it," Damon flirted. "What's your name?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I like to know a girl's name before I take her home," Damon replied easily, giving her that strange stare where his eyes widened and narrowed. Was that supposed to be hot?

He was, objectively, attractive. Sure.

Dark hair, bright blue eyes, strong jawline and thick brows, pursed lips, and fair skin with subtle olive tones — he was conventionally attractive.

She had eyes.

But, god, just his presence made her want to throttle him and they'd spoken for less than ten minutes.

"That's bold of you," Eden nibbled on her straw. "But I'm not interested."

"Come on," Damon leaned closer, his eyes catching hers. "I think you're very interested."

I think I'm interested.

Wait, no, what?

Eden blinked, watching his pupils dilate strangely. That was weird. She hadn't felt like that in months — it was akin to occlumency, a branch of the larger tree, if she had to categorize it.

If she wasn't trained in Occulemncy — unlike Harry, who, bless him, couldn't master the skill for the life of him — then she'd have probably done whatever Damon was trying to get her to do.

How could he, though? He hadn't cast an Imperio, he wasn't using magic to influence her — what was he?

Her head tilted a fraction and she narrowed her eyes. "What are you?" She asked quietly.

His eyes widened a fraction and he blinked, annoyance crossing his features. He leaned back again, but she kept her eyes on him, her magic on high alert. A shiver ran down her spine at his tense frame and irritated look. He wasn't a wizard, there was absolutely no evidence of that.

What else could manipulate other creatures?

Veela, but he wasn't pretty enough.

Oh, shit. Her eyes flickered to his drink, his hand wrapped tightly around it, and back up to his eyes. He was almost too pretty. Too clean.

"Vampire," she muttered, her voice a whisper.

His head snapped to hers and he looked over her face. "You're coming with me," he smiled tightly, grabbing her arm without her consent, and pulling her from the stool. Her arm throbbed at the contact, her magic sizzling against her skin, begging to throw him, toss him around, but she refrained.

She watched with with raised eyebrows as the Joe's eyes followed them — but he didn't stop Damon — out of the grill, around the corner into a dark alley.

Damon let go of he, roughly shoving her against the wall.

"How do you know that?" He leaned down in front of her, his eyes catching her.

Dilated pupils.

He was trying to use compulsion on her again.

Oh, she'd never been happier that she'd taken Care of Magical Creatures fifth and sixth year, even when her friends hadn't. They'd studied vampires for an entire semester, Hagrid warning them against the different types. Some were nice, he'd said, but most will drink your blood without a second thought.

There were different types, too. In Europe, for instance, there were witches and wizards that had been turned into vampires and their blood hadn't mixed correctly. They were transformed into humanoid beasts, with large, prominent fangs and blood-red eyes. Their skin sagged and stretched and they were master predators.

In other cases, however, Hagrid said there was a more magically induced vampiric bloodline. They were created through old magic, directly descended from Merlin himself. It was a sacrificial ritual created through dark — and now very much forbidden — magic that instilled immortality, strength, speed, heightened emotions, and an unquenchable thirst for human blood.

Eden hadn't met any of the Original family, no one had, not even Hagrid, and they were more legends than reality.

Their descendants, or sire line, were well-hidden across the globe. There were rules against them throughout the Wizarding World — something Hermione was adamantly against, and through her new influence as "assistant to the Director of Magical Law Enforcement" she was hoping to make drastic changes — and she'd only learned about them in theory.

Unlike the humanoid vampire-wizards that were known throughout Europe, if only for their ancient connection to the Wizarding World, they blended into society easily with humans and American wizards alike.

Eden's heart thumped against her chest loudly, her breath catching when Damon placed his hands on either side of her, trapping her between him and the wall.

"Back up," she said quietly, her voice stronger than she felt. She was stupid to leave her wand at home. She needed to use it again, protect herself.

She wasn't as gifted with nonverbal magic as Hermione, nor as talented with wandless magic as Draco.

"Why? Scared? How do you know about me?"

Eden's eyes narrowed. "I'm giving you one more chance," she said lowly, her face close to his. With another person, it might have been a compromising position. She might feel excited, her skin might buzz at the intimacy.

With him, with this vicious creature disguised as a beautiful man, she wanted to make him burn, inch by inch in the burning sun.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" He questioned, his eyes slicing into her own questioningly. His gaze was hard now, all remnants of attraction left at the bar in the grill.

She didn't respond, instead, willing, with all her might, for him to fly backwards. Flipendo, Flipendo, Flipendo, she chanted internally.

Please, she thought. Please, fucking fly backwards. I need to run.

Could she outrun a vampire? Probably not. But would he kill her in front of everyone? Probably not.

Flipendo, Flipendo, Flipendo, Flipendo — he stumbled back, gripping his head, giving her just enough time to rush from the scene, from him, and down the street towards the general public.

She didn't glance back.

—

okay first chapter done. i love eden, i'd die for her. she gets funnier i promise, she's just a bit out of her element. also her relationship with harry <3 is everything to me i love them so much. we met damon! and stef and elena ofc, but we'll see how her relationship with everyone develops. she won't be super involved with the main plot until Katherine comes into the picture, and we won't see Klaus for awhile, but don't worry, that doesn't mean he won't be in the story. You'll see. Hope you enjoyed:)