TRIGGER WARNING: brief mention of rape, abuse, family abuse, and homophobic family views.

"do you think dittany and silver could cure a werewolf bite on a vampire?"

—

"YOU TRAPPED HER in the house?" Stefan asked dubiously, eyebrows raised as he stood behind the tomb barrier.

"Her face was hilarious," Eden confirmed, eating a cookie, and holding one out to Damon, who shook his head minutely. "Stef, d'ya like my fanny pack?" She asked, raising it slightly from her waist. "I heard they're really neat here in America. Jenna says I look like an idiot, but I get extra snacks so who's the real winner."

Stefan eyed her for a moment before closing his eyes and with a sigh, looked back to Damon expectantly.

"It's for the best," Damon rolled his eyes. "Trust us."

Stefan nodded, letting out a sigh.

"Elena's on a martyr tear that rivals your greatest hits," Damon smirked at his brother. "Eden's the one who put a stop to the whole thing."

"I'm one bad decision away from calling Harry to apparate her to Grimmauld Place until we deal with Klaus."

Stefan smiled softly at Eden's words before Damon continued.

"We brought you this," Damon held out a backpack full of blood bags. "Care package."

"Don't let the kitty cat drink them all," Eden said with a pointed stare. "They're to share if she's good."

"I'm just going to have to share them with her," Stefan pointed out.

"Maybe," Eden shrugged. "Or maybe I charmed half of them to recoil if touched by anything that isn't your fingerprint."

"You can do that?" Stefan asked.

"I can do anything, Salvatore," Eden smiled, a steely look in her eyes.

"You know," Katherine spoke up. Eden didn't hold back the eye roll. "You two are surprisingly calm considering Klaus will hunt you down and kill you if you mess with his little plan." She glanced to Eden. "Maybe not the witch, but the rest of you? Fair game."

"I've been dead before," Damon shrugged. "I got over it." He looked to Stefan again. "Once we get over this moonstone, we'll figure a way to get you out."

"Ah, don't worry about me," Stefan smiled softly. "Just make sure Elena's safe."

Damon nodded, glancing to Katherine once, before looking back to Stefan again. Damon tore his gaze from his brother and nodded for Eden to follow. Eden hesitated.

"Actually," she stopped, glancing to Katherine. "I want to chat."

The surprise on Damon's face was genuine. "Seriously? You know she's a lying bitch, right?"

"I've noticed."

Damon held her gaze for a moment before raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, Paradise, just call me if you need a ride or whatever."

"Love you, D-Day!" Eden called after him.

Damon's laugh echoed around the stone tomb as he left. Eden turned to the pair of surprised vampires.

"Stefan, this is girl talk, sorry," she shrugged at his confused look.

Grabbing her wand from her holster on her arm — Elijah had told her numerous times how proud he was of her for taking the wand not only outside of the drawer but across town to use magic — she mumbled a quick Muffliato to Katherine and herself.

Stefan frowned when Eden began talking, frustration in his eyes when he realized he couldn't hear either of them. Eden took a seat outside the tomb, Katherine leaned against the wall. Stefan's jaw clenched before he left entirely, and they both rolled their eyes at his dramatics.

"What do you need, Sommers?"

"How do you know the Malfoy's?"

Katherine sighed, looking away. "I knew this conversation was coming at some point. I suppose it's only fair I tell you." She met Eden's eyes. "But this isn't free. It'll cost you."

Eden thought for a moment. "I can get you into the Wizarding World permanently. Away from all of this."

Katherine scoffed. "You think it's simple? What, you bat your eyes, and everyone folds?" Katherine shook her head. "They know me there. Or the important people do." Her eyes flickered to Eden. "Sirius Black, he's dead now, isn't he?"

Surprise flickered across Eden's face, but she nodded. "Yeah, yeah, a few years now. Why? Don't tell me you knew him, too?"

Katherine smiled, and for the first time since meeting her, Eden could see true resemblance between her and Elena. There was a genuine fondness there, a care Eden hadn't seen from her in regard to anyone else.

"He was a good kid, they both were," Katherine explained after a pause. There was a distance to her tone, a sincerity that made Eden careful of how she breathed so as not to take her from her reverie. "Sirius and Regulus Black, they were good kids. Sirius was funny, always made stupid jokes about me being a vampire. He said it was fine because he had a werewolf friend," Katherine rolled her eyes, "but Regulus was soft. Gentle. Used to make tea in the middle of the night." Katherine shook her head. "They'll never understand, you know," she met Eden's eyes. "What you've lost. What you've been through. This is all they know. Mystic Falls, the vampires, the drama, they'll...never get it."

Eden's eyebrows furrowed and she a multitude of questions echoed in her mind, but she didn't voice them as Katherine continued.

"I cared for Damon, in my own way. I love Stefan, I... I'll always love Stefan. Like how you loved Fred," she met Eden's shocked and pained gaze. "I didn't mean that offensively, it's just the truth. But I did care about Damon."

Eden adjusted on the ground, leaning her back against the stone wall. It was cold. Grounding. All of this felt like a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of moment, and she wished she could peel her eyes open and rewatch this in a pensive. She didn't know the last time anyone had seen Katherine like this; unguarded, thoughtful, genuine. Eden didn't believe the Salvatores ever had.

"He cares about you," Katherine pursed her lips. "I thought it was romantic at first, but it's not. It's..." Katherine sighed. "He's your Narcissa." Katherine smiled softly. "She was my best friend. I knew all the Blacks because of..." hesitation, and then, "but I knew Narcissa first. We met in Knockturn Alley. We shouldn't have been friends. I'm a vampire, she's a pureblooded witch, but...we were." Grief flashed across Katherine's face.

"I loved Cissy, so much. I miss her every day," she confessed quietly. "And that's what it's like for you and Damon. Inexplicable companionship. A comradery you'll never find with another living soul. All I ask is that you don't hurt him. I hurt Narcissa. It ruined me." Katherine's dark eyes met Eden's. "I don't want either of you to be ruined, Eden Sommers."

It was...a lot to take in.

Eden was quiet for a few minutes, contemplative.

"Why tell me this?" She asked curiously.

Katherine laughed softly. "You won't tell anyone that which isn't yours to tell," she replied plainly. "You're pure of heart, Eden. You are. You're not...like me. Or Stefan. Or Elijah." Eden was surprised Katherine had put the younger brother on her comparative lists of killers, but she figured the vampire may no more than she in terms of the brothers' souls.

"Bellatrix was my soulmate," Katherine said after a beat, her voice soft, barely above a whisper. Eden couldn't help the intake of breath that followed her name. The slight tremor in her hands. She clenched her hands into fists, realizing one was still holding her wand and tucked it away. She dug her hands into the dirt beneath the ground. Trying to forget Bellatrix's laugh. Hermione's screaming. Dolohov's breath. Always Dolohov.

"Before she became who you're thinking of," Katherine continued gently. "I'm sorry for what she did," her eyes meant it. They were the kindest Eden had ever seen on the woman. She never thought she'd find a positive word to describe Katherine's eyes, other than matching Elena's, but here she stood, finding them almost beautiful in the vulnerability.

"She was the best person," Katherine choked, clearing her throat. "Ambitious, wild, romantic. She liked poetry and playing the piano. She painted in her free time. She used to hem Narcissa's stuffed dragon when it got too beat up. She didn't even use magic," Katherine's eyes watered, "she loved being a pureblood but there were some things she preferred to do like a person, not a witch."

Eden was silent through Katherine's proclamation, her own eyes filling with tears. She pitied Katherine. Having met Elijah and accepted their bond, it would be truly catastrophic to lose him. She couldn't imagine living like that for decades without him. And, worse, to hear he'd turned into a monster?

Katherine cleared her throat, wiping her eyes quickly. "Her parents didn't like it. They said she was...weak with me. Shameful. Not only was I a woman, I would never bring her, the eldest and most respected, an heir, but I was also a vampire. To consort with such an atrocity," Katherine scoffed. "The shame."

"I'm sorry," Eden spoke up gently.

Katherine's head snapped to hers, as if realizing the younger woman was still there. "Yes, well," Katherine shrugged. "Bella and I were going to run away, but they found a solution sooner. They...threatened me." Katherine shook her head.

"I would've run off, kept our bond, let her marry someone else. We could still write, we could have..." A tear fell down Katherine's cheek. "But she couldn't abandon her family. Andromeda had already left, ran off with Ted. There was so much...fury in that family." A dark look crossed Katherine's face. "Klaus is bad, truly, but the Black family?" Her jaw clenched. "They were like apples. Some were beautiful and red and perfect, like Bella. And Cissy, Sirius, Reg. Some were...rotten." Her lip trembled. "The things they did?"

Eden looked down. She'd heard brief stories from Draco when they'd had too much to drink. He didn't remember much from his early childhood, but he knew enough. Enough to know the Malfoys were the snakes with a much less painful bite.

Bellatrix breathed in her next words. "There's a way to break the bond," she told Eden shakily. "It's not practiced and I swear to you, it is truly awful. But, it can be done." Katherine closed her eyes, leaning her head against the stone. "It's like...ripping yourself in half. Tearing a piece of yourself out and it just...vanishes. It's ice cold and burning hot and a million daggers and swords and crucico's all at once. It's horrific." She opened her eyes again. Eden found the fondess, the vulnerability, the kindness; gone. There was an emptiness in Katherine's eyes that chilled Eden to her core.

"I've never felt like that before," Katherine whispered, "five centuries on this planet and nothing comes close. And the aftermath?" Katherine scoffed. "My Bella was...gone. I was different. Wrong. We were both just...wrong. I left not long after and her father mailed me a copy of the Prophet announcing Bella and Rudolphus' wedding. I never felt her again. It's subtle, but you understand it," she looked to Eden, wetting her lips. "You feel the gentle tug, it's always there. Comforting. Like a rope, keeps you tethered to someone else, to the planet, to yourself. And the rope snapped, and she fell...and I was lost."

They were silent for a long time before Eden spoke again.

Her head was spinning. The knowledge that Sirius would have known Katherine as a teenager, that Harry's father had potentially met her or heard of her, and she had nearly killed Eden's sister and tormented Elena...it baffled her.

Then, there was the dark curse. She remembered Elijah mentioning briefly of something to that nature — did he know of Katherine and Bellatrix? She'd have to ask him — but she didn't realize the extent. She'd never want to perform it.

Eden would never want to become what Bellatrix had or put Elijah through what Katherine went through.

"What did the Malfoy's do for you?" Eden asked curiously, her original question resurfacing. The reason she hadn't called Dolohov previously. The favor she owed.

Katherine's eyes softened. "They were going to kill me. Have Bella kill me. A show of faith to their family name, but...Cissa saved me. Her and Lucius helped me escape." She laughed humorlessly. "A Malfoy always has a Polyjuice brewed, did you know that?" She asked Eden. "I didn't until I saw myself standing in front of me. Cissa got me out and then Lucius made an obvious escape plan. They were too late catching him, but that was the point, it was a distraction, I was already gone."

Silence fell them again and Eden found herself uncomfortable this close to Katherine. A version of the woman everyone else knew. She hated the sympathy and strange bond that had formed between them with the confession in the air. How could she let Elijah kill her now? Let Klaus? Let Damon? When she was such an important person in Draco's mother's life? A woman who had brought tea to her and held her after Dolohov's first rape? Wiped her tears?

Eden stood, feeling dizzy. "I need to go," she said disoriented. "Thanks for..." she looked at Katherine again and for a moment, all she could see was Elena.

It made her sick.

"I have to go." She rushed from the tomb, her breathing quickening. She stopped in the woods, leaning against the cold rock, her fingers trembling and eyes prickling with tears.

She gasped for air, feeling the panic settling in. It was too much. The idea that Bellatrix was once a good person, like her, and that Katherine wasn't as horrible as everyone believed...

Did that destroy everything Eden knew about herself? Was there hope for a vampire like Klaus? Would there have been hope for Riddle? Was there hope for her?

Shakily, she grabbed her phone and dialed Elijah's number. She didn't want to have to explain it to Harry and she didn't want to explain how she knew Katherine to Draco. She just wanted...she just...

"What's bothering you, darling? Where are you?" Elijah picked up on the first ring.

"At the tomb," Eden's voice wobbled, "I was talking to Katherine."

"What did she say to you?" Elijah's voice hardened a fraction.

Eden shook her head, even if he couldn't see it. "Nothing, she...I just need you," she felt small, childish, asking for someone she hardly knew because of a bond they shared, "can I-can I see you?"

"I'm heading to you now. Do you want to wait there or meet me outside the mansion?"

"I can — I can—"

"— I'll meet you there. Just sit down. Breathe in and out, I'm only a few minutes away, Elskan."

Eden nodded, sitting against the rocks and trying to calm her breathing. The breeze was harrowing, and her hair felt itchy as it beat against her skin. Her clothes were too tight and the dirt under her was scratchy and uneven. She was uncomfortable and anxious, and her stomach tied in knots, threatening to overwhelm her. Everything blurred. The trees, the grass, the dirt, the sky, her thoughts...

Hands were on her cheeks and her eyes met a soft brown.

She breathed in. Eucalyptus. Books. Her entire body melted as his figure came into focus.

"That's it," Elijah's voice slowly brought her awareness back. "There's my girl."

"Hi," Eden said in a small voice.

A smile tugged at Elijah's lips. "Let's get you home, yes?"

At Eden's nod, he gently helped her up, pressed a kiss to her head, and carried her home.

—

"Elena may approach you," Elijah filled the silence as they sat on her couch, soft music playing from her record player. "I made an arrangement with her. It's only a way to stop her from sacrificing herself, but just know...I would never hurt your family."

Eden snuggled closer to him. "I know, 'Lijah."

"I mean it," he ran his fingers gently through her hair. "I gave you my word and I intend to keep it. They...your friends are convincing. I don't want them to..." he trailed off, pressing a soft kiss to her head. "I need you to trust me, Eden. No matter what happens."

Eden pulled her head from his chest and looked at him, sitting up. "Elijah, do you think I'd let them convince me of something about you that isn't true?"

Elijah was silent for a moment. "I am dangerous, Eden," he warned her gently.

She placed a hand on his cheek. "So am I," she said softly. "So is Draco. So is Damon. So is everyone, with the right intentions. But that doesn't mean I don't trust you. I do."

He smiled softly, pressing a kiss to her palm. "I trust you, Eden. I don't trust anyone."

"And I don't betray those who trust me," Eden promised softly. "Harry says I'm the most loyal person he knows. I won't let anyone harm you."

Something flickered in Elijah's eyes and his mouth twitched. He wanted to say something but didn't, instead pulled her closer, pressing his lips to hers.

Shock filled her at first. It had been days, almost a week since their first kiss, and here he was kissing her again.

"I trust you," he murmured against her lips, repeating the words of which they both knew meant more. More to both of them.

Love was easy. Anyone could fall in love. Their love was tangible, as solid as their lips against one another. It was unspoken, unnecessary. Their bond was full of love. It would never allow them to love another the way they did each other.

But trust was complex. It was earned and protected. If broken, it was shattered. It was a glass box where they each held their hearts and his words the offering. He was offering himself to her. His heart in a glass box, gently nudging her own.

"I trust you," she whispered, pulling back just enough to meet his eyes. "I trust you."

His tongue darted between his lips, and a soft smile found his face. There was nothing more to say, and yet, she wanted to say everything. Anything to keep that look in his eyes. To drown in the softness of his expression, the kindness in his words.

And she did mean it. She did trust him. Trust was hard to come by, after the war. The only person she trusted in Mystic Falls was Damon. No one else had her back. No one until Elijah, who looked at her as though she hung up the stars in the sky and set the sun ablaze.

Words escaped her and she pulled his lips back to hers. She couldn't tell him how much he meant to her; she'd never find the right words. But she could show him.

His hands were more assured now, cupping her jaw, his long fingers brushing her hair. She wrapped her hands around his neck, deepening the kiss, his lips moving against hers with a gentle urgency.

In that moment, nothing else mattered - no worries or fears, no past or future. There was only the heat of the moment, the electricity between them, and the pure, unbridled devotion in their kiss.

Eden's phone rang and she pulled back from Elijah with a soft groan, leaning her head against his. He chuckled at her dismay and pressed a kiss to her head. Reaching for her phone at the coffee table, he answered and held it to her ear.

"You have reached a disconnected number," she began with a faux serious voice, smiling at Elijah's smirk as their eyes remained connected. He gently tugged her further onto his lap, sliding his free arm around her waist. She blushed at the contact and the obvious enjoyment he felt beneath her. "Please try again later or dial support for more assistance."

"E-Eden?" It was Elena, her voice shaky and breathless.

Eden's smile dropped, eyebrows tugging together. Worry and annoyance flickered across Elijah's eyes.

"Elena? What's happened?"

"It-it's Rose. She was bitten by a werewolf and-and I'm at the Boarding House and Damon left and she was fine but now she thinks—"

Elijah gave her a pointed look and offered his hand for the phone. Eden immediately placed it in his hand, putting it on speaker.

"Elena, it's Elijah. Are you injured?"

"No, I'm-I'm fine. Why are you...never mind. I can call Stefan or something, Eden, sorry to bother you, I—"

"—Shut up, Elena," She cut her niece off with a fond eye roll, meeting Elijah's gaze. "Is there a cure that you know of? Silver can soothe the effects of werewolf bites if applied hours after a bite, but don't stop full transformation. It's what Madam Pomfrey gave me and Bill when we were attacked."

Elijah nodded. "There's not an exact cure, not that I would particularly mind if your previous kidnapper perished, Eden."

Eden gave him a look and his lip quirked a fraction. "Elena, stay calm. We'll be there shortly."

"No!" Elena blurted. "Elijah, I-I'd feel...Eden, can you just...?"

"I'll be there, Lena, give me a few."

She ended the phone call and quickly dialed Hermione's number.

"Eden?" Hermione answered, surprise evident in her voice. "Not that I mind you calling, but why are you, exactly? Are you alright? Is Elijah okay?"

Elijah's lips curled into a soft smile, eyes flickering with surprise, and Eden was hit with the impression that not many people he hadn't met asked that question. Her heart swelled with love for Hermione. Her closest female friend, the most accepting and loving person on the planet, asked about Elijah's well-being despite only hearing of him through text messages.

"He's fine, excited to meet you," Eden responded. "Thanks for asking, but it's, um, something else, actually. Very random and you can't ask questions."

"That's a terrible thing to tell me," Hermione chastised. "Eden, you know that will only bring up more questions. Are you in trouble? What's going on?"

"Do you think dittany and silver could cure a werewolf bite on a vampire?"

Silence.

And then, "Hypothetically, yes. That could work, but there's an unknown variant with the vampiric blood. Silver doesn't affect vampires, but the dittany may not provide the same healing factor that it does to others. Perhaps if you mixed it with wolfsbane? But then..." she began to mumble things to herself, and they could hear shuffling on her end. "Okay, possibly. That's a varied answer but in the hypothetical event that this is life and death, I would presume that application would be a better alternative to nothing as it may at least bring a possible stasis. If nothing occurs, there's no cure that could help them, but it may help slow the effects of a bite down. Or it may cure it all together. Oh, I hate not being positive, I'm sorry, Eden."

"It's alright, 'Mione," Eden responded with a smile. "Thanks, love you."

"Wait, Eden! Why are you asking —"

Eden ended the call and put her phone on silent to avoid further contact.

"That will be a fun conversation when Harry calls me in an hour."

Elijah brushed back a piece of her hair. "You don't have to save, Rose, you know. It's not up to you."

"I know," Eden sighed. "But Damon cares about her. And she's a good person. I like Rose. I think...she felt trapped and didn't know what to do. If there's a chance I can help instead of hinder, I think I'd like to."

Elijah nodded in understanding, pressing another kiss to her head, and patting her waist. Eden stood and he was up a moment later, adjusting his shirt.

"I'll call you when I found out what's up with everything. Did you know there's another werewolf in town?"

Elijah shook his head. "I was unaware. I'll look into it, further. I'm assuming you'll stay with Elena tonight?"

Eden nodded. "Probably. I'll let you know if anything changes. See you around?" She bit her lip, smiling hopefully at him.

He nodded, eyes searching her face. "I'm sorry if I rushed it earlier."

Eden shook her head. "I'm not upset," she clarified. "I told you. I trust you. Slow and steady wins the race. We're like really hot turtles. Except you have super speed and I've got a wand." She gasped. "What a brilliant comic. Like ninja turtles but they're in love and one's magical and the other's a vampire." She paused. "Okay, now that I'm thinking about it, the logistics aren't there."

Elijah chuckled at her words, tilting her chin up to him and gently kissing her again. She swooned, knees nearly buckling at the softness in the kiss.

"I'll see you for dinner tomorrow, Elskan."

Eden nodded and a second later, he was gone.

—

"You're all very lucky I like you so much," Eden started as she entered the Boarding House. "I had to melt down an authentic silver-plating tray for this," she blinked in surprise at her own words, "Merlin, I've been spending too much time with Elijah," she muttered, carrying the potion around as she searched for her friends.

She walked upstairs to Damon's room and her demeanor softened when she spotted him gently holding Rose against him, a stake in one hand.

"Don't," Eden whispered, walking towards the pair. "I don't know if this will help, but it's better than nothing."

Hope filled Damon's face and Eden looked down at Rose. She looked terrible. Pale, sweating, exhausted. Her heart broke.

"Why didn't you call me?" Eden asked Damon. "I could've had this sooner."

"I didn't..." Damon trailed off.

Eden knew what he meant. She looked at him, a reassuring smile on her face. "Damon, you can always call me. You're my friend. You call me and I'm there. You can depend on me. Okay?"

Damon's jaw clenched and he nodded, looking back to Rose. "Please help her," he whispered.

Eden nodded and together, they lifted her slightly, removing her shirt and revealing the bite. Eden hoped with every inch of her that it would work as the drops of silver dittany fell onto the wound.

Rose winced and whimpered in her sleep. Damon closed his eyes, pressing his fingers to her head. Eden concentrated on the injury, looking over the skin as it slowly closed up. A bite mark remained, but it seemed controlled.

It was the best she could do.

"I can get Draco here," Eden bit her lip. "He's a healer, and he's bloody brilliant with potions. He may know more."

"Why do you care so much?" Damon asked, meeting her own. She found tears in his gaze and that alone nearly destroyed her. She never wanted to see him like that again. "You come into town and make me...give a shit about you and now you're helping someone who tried to give you up. Why?"

"She's important to you," Eden supplied softly. "And you're important to me."

They didn't say anything else, but they didn't have to. Eden kept an eye on Rose's wound throughout the night, marking notes on paper Damon had grabbed her.

She'd forgotten what it felt like to have it: hope.

She hadn't had it since the war. She'd been filled with an emptiness that dictated every decision she'd made and, yet, today, she felt hope. Hope with Elijah, that she may move on and find happiness. Hope with Rose, that she may find a cure. Hope that she could help.

Help.

Eden didn't think she was capable of that anymore. It felt nice to be proved wrong.

—

i'm so unhappy with this chapter except for the kissing scene ugh. i'm trying to save rose but i'm also trying not to be like "oh haha fuck canon klaus isn't important with his cure!" when he very much is, but i do think that intelligent people with good intentions can make the impossible possible and I think everyone is really tired of losing everyone and they don't want to lose rose. next chapter we see dracooooo ehehhehee get ready. also how'd you guys like the katherine stuff? did it feel outta place? idk i'm so mixed about this. it took forever to write and then rewrtie because this app deleted it so idk. lmk love yaaaa thanks for the patience:)