I do not own Harry Potter, the Vampire Diaries, the Originals, or the Secret Circle.

Chapter Sixteen

Harry looked at the easel in front of him. He took in the colors, the pale white of the girl's skin, the neck length bleach blonde hair, and the dazzling green eyes. He felt his heart throb at the memory of the girl he had painted. It had been three days since the fight with Scarlett and he was beginning to regret every moment of it. The fight was on a constant loop inside his head.

He threw down the paintbrush and walked away from the painting, running his hands through his hair. This fight was eating him alive. He had hoped that painting what haunted him, he'd feel better about it. It hadn't worked. Taking his phone from his pocket, he checked to see if there had been any calls. Klaus still hadn't arrived in New Salem and he was beginning to get worried.

The rest of the house was quiet, Sirius and Remus were still in the hospital after Harry's brawl with them. Remus was no doubt paralyzed from the neck down, it'd be a miracle if he survived the week. Sirius was awake, though keeping his mouth shut. No doubt out a desire to protect Harry as much as the wires keeping it so. He hated the quiet.

A blessed relief came when there was a knocking at the door. Racing down the stairs he practically yanked the door open before stopping at who was standing on the other side of the door.

"My, my," Klaus said, "it's like looking in a mirror."

Harry smiled lightly before saying "come in."

As Klaus walked in and looked around the house, Harry couldn't help but be a bit nervous.

"Sorry I'm late. I was in Australia, I've become a fan of the Opera House. It took me some time to get here."

"No worries. But we're on a deadline, the spell is being done tonight."

"Don't have much time then, now relay the story to me again."

"Scarlett is a witch, a friend I feel…strongly for. This man, John Blackwell, arrived here the day after we met and warped her mind. Lied to her about being chased by witch hunters, considering they're a myth I was suspicious and when I tried to tell her this she argued with me and ran off."

"So, you want my help to?"

"You're what, a thousand years old? I need your help to convince her that Blackwell is dangerous, she won't listen to me."

"When you say, you feel strongly for this girl, I assume you mean…"

"You were a teenage boy at one point, I'm sure you know."

Klaus smirked at the look on Harry's face.

"Well your plan would go so much better if you weren't completely wrong about something."

"Which is?"

"Witch hunters. They do exist. The magical law enforcement of this country is still in its infancy compared to that of the European countries. Every once and a while muggles fall through the cracks. Some of them fear magic enough to become witch hunters."

"So, she was right about that bit, great."

"The woman usually is. I've learned it's best to simply nod and go along with what they are saying. It keeps everybody happy."

Harry sat across from Klaus and sighed.

"Regardless of that small issue," Harry said, "I still need help convincing her of Blackwell's intentions."

"Why would she believe some stranger?"

"Scarlett didn't have the best childhood; her father was rather neglectful in favor of her other sibling. That is no doubt the reason she was drawn into Blackwell's lies. We need to sever whatever control over her Blackwell has."

"You want to kill him."

"Yes, but not right away. Killing him while he has control over Scarlett would be of no use. Killing him once that control is broken, well, that's a different story."

Klaus broke into a full smile at the sound of that.

"You're starting to sound like me. So how do you plan on breaking that control? Torture?"

"Scarlett is incredibly smart, she won't believe anything Blackwell says if we've tortured it out of her. Her mother said that Blackwell was dangerous and powerful, regardless of the fact that you're an Original and I, myself, am a hybrid, I doubt we'd be able to have an advantage over him. But there is someone we can get the better of. Her sister, Cynthia."

"Her sister? The one her father favored above all?"

"No, no that's Abby. She's her maternal sister. Cynthia claims she is Scarlett's half-sister through Blackwell. She'd be the better choice."

"So, what the plan of attack?"

The final school bell of the day rang, prompting the hordes of students to rush out of the school like wildebeests. Harry stood at the top of the hill in front of the carpark scanning the crowd for the nauseating speck of pink. He found her, climbing the hill towards the main road to the school.

Running up behind her he said "excuse me."

Cynthia turned around and when she saw who it was she smirked.

"Well, well, Mikaelson. You've caused some trouble over the past couple of days" she said.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, is that Scarlett told me about your little spat. Truth is, I really don't care about any of it. But my father's plan requires her to be on our side, so thank you for driving her right into our arms."

"So, you admit it then. This Blackwell person is just using her and your helping him."

"Of course, we're using her. We're using her to protect the entire Blackwell bloodline, herself included. The threat we face is very real, regardless of what you might think."

"So, tell me, what exactly will this spell do then? Surely if he's your father he's told you all about it."

"Yes, he has. The spell we're going to do is incredibly powerful, so powerful in fact we need a battery. It just so happens that Sirius Black brought one to town a few days ago."

"Elijah" Harry said after a moment.

"Exactly. By channeling the power of an Original Vampire, coupled with the astronomic conjunction will give us all the power to protect ourselves. The spell will channel the dark magic that exists innately in the Blackwell line, it will lash out at those we consider our enemies, killing them."

"And does Scarlett know about the part where your 'enemies' are killed?"

"Yes" someone said behind him. Turning around he saw that Scarlett was standing behind him, her arms crossed over her chest in a disapproving manner.

"And you're okay with that?"

"Are you okay with killing people? If the answer to my question is yes, then that's the answer to yours as well. Besides, it won't just kill our 'enemies' it'll also undo any magic they used on us that's still in effect. Such as the magic binding spell that I'm still afflicted by. Tell me have you gotten all the ingredients yet? Or are you still working on finding the essence of kraken."

Harry was silent as the two witches started to walk away from him.

"It won't work" Harry yelled after them.

"What won't work" Scarlett asked.

"Your 'protection spell' as you call it, it won't work. Let's say you kill everybody you see as an enemy now. That peace you seek, it won't last. Those people you'll be killing, they have loved ones, loved ones that'll become your enemies. In a decade, you'll have to do the spell again, and a decade after that, and a decade after that. How many will die just for a moment of peace, thousands, millions?"

Cynthia walked back and looked Harry right in the eyes. "Trust me," she said, "that won't be an issue."

She turned back and walked towards the road, not looking back. Scarlett hesitated for a moment before following her, though he could see something in her eyes, a glimmer of uneasiness.

"That went well" Klaus said as Harry got into the car.

"How much of that did you hear" Harry asked nervously.

"Enough. Enough to know that you knew Elijah was in town. Your heart beat was steady when she mentioned him."

"Sirius called him, under the belief that Elijah could save me from turning out like you."

Klaus was silent for a moment before saying "could he?"

Harry sighed and said "no. There is only one person I'd change for. If she asked."

"This girl, Scarlett. You feel for her. Really feel for her."

"I already told you I like her."

"Yes, you did, but this, this is coming off as something stronger than just liking someone."

"I've only known her for what, three days. You seriously think it could have been love at first sight."

"That? No, over the past thousand years I've come to the conclusion that love is a weakness. I don't believe in it, that's Elijah's beliefs. No, I think what you have for her is a respect. You know her power, her attitudes. You respect her for those attributes."

Harry wasn't entirely sure he agreed with that. A number of reasons came to mind. One in particular.

"If you think love is a weakness, then why are you here?"

Klaus froze for a moment.

"I don't know if I can be the father you need me to be. But you are my son, you deserved me telling you this is person, rather than over the phone" Klaus said.

"And the reason you're helping me with this plan?"

"I've made enemies over the years, Harry. Many, many enemies. Some of them are immortal, a small few aren't. I've received word that the possibility of you being my son is being spread around. If they believe that then they will come for you. You are powerful enough outside the full moon to meet them head on, but your planning, your cunning, that needs to be cultivated, trained, so you can outsmart them when they come."

"Well then, I say we make a preemptive strike. We know where Blackwell will be tonight, St. Bart's. But if we can find him before he has a chance to complete the spell…"

"His control over the girl will break. How do propose we find him then? If he's as strong as you say, he'll no doubt be cloaked from any spell."

"Well there is one thing he can't cloak. His scent. Sirius was in contact with him, he should still have Blackwell's scent."

"Ah, good," Klaus said, "I've been wanting to have a chat with Mr. Black myself."

Scarlett looked at the grimoire that Cynthia had given her, though her mind was somewhere else. It kept shifting back to what Harry had said. Was she really okay with killing people? She'd seen Harry eviscerate the witches that tried to kill him and, while she had been a bit nauseas while he was committing the act, she'd let him walk her home. She'd went out on a date, of sorts, with him. She'd even propelled the tree branch through Elijah's chest before she knew it wouldn't kill him. She wasn't turning into him, was she? A knock at the door took her from her musings.

Looking up she saw that Abby was standing in the doorway.

"What'cha reading, sis" she said as she bounced up to Scarlett's bed and sat on the edge.

"Homework, history," Scarlett said, quickly shutting the grimoire. "Something wrong?"

"Not really, no. Harry hasn't been around in a few days."

Scarlett immediately glared at her sister and said "I'm not talking about my love life with you."

"He's cute, not to mention you've never brought a boy over before. I was beginning to think you batted for the other team."

"Abby, your eleven, how do you know that term."

"I heard it at school, duh."

Scarlett chuckled at her sister's attitude.

"So, what happened" Abby asked.

"We had a fight, he called me a liar, I punched him, I ran off," Scarlett said, "end of story."

"That wasn't very nice of him. Or you, for that matter."

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you give up on a guy you like just because you fought with him, it's not a good idea. Look at mom and dad, seventeen years together and they fight like cats and dogs, they're still together."

"They're together for you, Abby."

"You too, Scarlett. I know you think dad doesn't like you."

"He doesn't."

"Well Harry does. Right now, you should be with him, fixing whatever issue you two have. I just want to see you happy, sis."

Scarlett sighed and leaned back onto the bed.

"What if I'm not meant to be happy" Scarlett asked.

Harry stood outside Sirius hospital room looking in the window at his godfather.

"I'm surprised you're here," Klaus said, "after bringing Elijah here I thought you'd've killed him."

"Believe me," Harry said, "I'm more than tempted. But Sirius was in contact with Blackwell for a short period of time, I could smell someone on him, earlier today when I met but Cynthia and Scarlett, they're scents were similar. There was a dash of burning pine in their scents, if they do come from the same bloodline then it stands to reason it's a familial scent. John Blackwell will have it too. So long as the scent hasn't been completely wiped out by the sterilization in the hospital, I'm in with a shot of tracking him."

Harry walked into the room silently, making sure that Sirius didn't wake up from his sleep. Getting as close to him as he could without having the urge to tear his head off, Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. Inhaling deeply, he could smell everything, the disinfectants, the cotton sheets, the horrible food. Then he smelled it the same fruity scent he smelled last night mixed with the scent of burning pine. He memorized as much of it as he could before exiting the room and walking to Klaus.

"I have his scent" Harry said before he turned to leave. As he did though he saw someone being wheeled down the corridor. It was Remus, he was in a wheelchair, and he looked horrible. He could have sworn that he saw Remus' eyes move to him and a speck of anger appeared in them.

"Wait here" he said to Klaus before going into the room that Remus had been brought into. He watched as the nurse moved him into the bed before leaving. He walked to the side of the bed and looked Remus in the eye.

"You brought this upon yourself, you just had to let this go and you'd wouldn't be confined to this bed for the rest of your life."

Harry paused before saying "but you were right. I've been a hypocrite. I insulted you when I called you an idiot for believing in love, I believed it to be weakness. That's because I had never experienced it before, I think I finally have. I understand the betrayal and the rage that you feel, I'll do anything to protect her."

He moved closer to Remus before saying "I have a proposition for you. I can heal you, if I do you leave New Salem and never return."

Harry walked to the foot of the bed and lifted his hands and saying "vulnera sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur."

His hands burned with magic as it flowed through his body and into Remus'. Remus' back arched painfully before returning to normal and he looked as if he had passed out. Removing the hospital sheet from the rest of his body, Harry grew one of his werewolf claws from his fingernails and pricked Remus' foot. Seeing it flinch away in pain he put the sheet back before walking out of the hospital room.

Cynthia walked down the steps to the church basement silently. Opening the door, she saw her father walking around the altar that had been moved there, chanting silently. He noticed her presence and paused.

"Is something wrong" he asked.

"Nothing I can't handle. Just this new kid at school. Scarlett is infatuated with him. He's being persistent."

"There's nothing he can do to stop the spell. The planetary alignment will occur at four eighteen exactly, we just have to hold off long enough for me to channel the two of you, once that happens we'll be free of the pesky witch hunters and the self-righteous aurors."

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Pass me the bowl other there."

Cynthia saw a small glass bowl sitting on the table by the wall. She picked it up and gave it to her father. She looked at the man lying on the altar and saw the blade sticking from his chest.

"So, this is Elijah Mikaelson, I was expecting someone taller."

"Make no mistake, child. Elijah might not be the cruelest of his siblings, but he is equally capable of eviscerating us with little effort. The Blade cannot remain in his heart while I cast the spell, and the preparation rite requires I remove it first."

"I thought the Blade was supposed to kill anything."

"It does, but Original Vampires cannot be killed. As far as I can tell it simply neutralizes them, rather painfully as well by the looks of it."

Cynthia watched as he removed the Blade from Elijah's chest, the original vampire giving a pained groan as he did. Her father put the blade down on the altar, took the bowl from her, and poured its contents into the still open wound on Elijah's chest. This time Elijah gave a pained roar before collapsing again, this time his skin became incredibly pale and veins started to grow along his skin.

"Now we just need to wait for the conjunction to take place," he said, "call Scarlett. Tell her to get over here. In just over an hour the Balcoin bloodline will be the most powerful bloodline in the world."

As he finished saying that a light humming sounded through the room.

"What was that" Cynthia asked.

"A perimeter charm. Someone's here."

Harry looked at the church they had pulled up in front of with anger and annoyance. He had managed to track Blackwell's scent across town, leading him here.

"This is St. Bart's. Where I'm supposed to meet Scarlett tonight" he said.

"This stinks of a trap," Klaus said, "why would Blackwell be here earlier than is necessary."

Harry thought for a moment before saying "maybe he needs time to prepare the components for the spell. For some spells once that is done the components cannot be moved. Not to mention he no doubt wants to cast the spell at the first possible chance, the Jupiter-Saturn alignment occurring today will happen in one hour, we need to make this quick."

Exiting the car, they walked around to the side entrance to the church. The windows on the lower levels had been blacked out and Harry couldn't hear anything in the church.

"Can you sense anything" Klaus asked cautiously.

"No. You?"

Klaus shook his head.

Harry walked into the church and chose to go down the stairs to the basement. Opening the basement door slightly he looked around. Seeing nobody he motioned for Klaus to follow him in. The moment both of them were inside the room though, the door slapped shut. Klaus tried to open it, even tried kicking it down, but it wouldn't budge.

"He's here" Harry said quietly.

He inhaled, searching for Blackwell's scent, he was diffidently there but the scent was coming from every direction, he couldn't say which way it was coming from. Just then a searing pain jolted through his brain. Gasping in pain he looked up and saw that the same thing was happening to Klaus. As he watched Klaus he saw that a figure appeared behind him, faded from obscurity as though a disillusionment charm was being removed. He tried to say something, anything but the pain was too much. This was much more than what he had felt days ago at the Palmer house; that was like getting a small shock, this felt like his body was struck by lightning.

Harry watched as the man lifted his hand, he was holding some wicked looking knife, and plunged it into Klaus' chest. He could just make out his father give a silent roar, before going limp. He felt the pain lessen a bit, just enough for him to get to this knees, flames sprouted from the tiles of the basement floor. They formed a figure eight pattern, one circle surrounding Klaus, the other circling Harry.

Once the circles were fully formed the pain in his head vanished. Gasping he stood up and came face to face with the man who had stabbed Klaus. Green eyes met gunmetal grey ones as they stared down each other.

"So, you're Blackwell," Harry said, "thought you'd be taller."

"And you're Harry Potter," Blackwell said, "I thought you'd be more impressive."

Harry couldn't help but smirk.

"Let me out of this circle and we'll see who's more impressive."

Blackwell chuckled and said "I could, but I've been waiting sixteen years to implement his spell. It takes priority."

Scarlett stepped into the basement of the church and flinched when she saw the two circles of fire that were roaring on both sides of the door. She saw who was inside the circles and her heart sank. Harry was pacing back and forth inside one of them. He stopped when he saw that she was there.

"What are you doing here" she asked.

"You invited me. I got here a bit early."

It was then that Scarlett noticed the other flaming circle and who was in it. It was a man lying on his side with a knife in his chest. What made it truly disconcerting was that the man had a strong resemblance to Harry. They looked almost exactly the same, though Harry was paler and his hair was a bit redder than the plain dirty blonde of the man.

"Is that?"

"My father yes."

"Speaking of fathers," someone said. Blackwell appeared from thin air and said, "it's time."

Looking past her father Scarlett could see that an altar had also appeared in the middle of the basement. Lying on it was a man who looked very familiar.

"Is that Elijah?"

"Yes, yes, it is. Had I known that Klaus was going to be here I wouldn't have made a move for Elijah, but the spell has been prepared with him so he'll have to do."

As they walked towards the altar Scarlett was confused on something.

"How did you do that to Klaus? I thought original vampires couldn't be killed."

"He isn't dead, though I'm sure he wishes he was. That knife I put in his chest, it's an ancient weapon. Ever hear of the Master Tool's?"

"No, what are they?"

"They are rumored to be ancient magical weapons, each with enough power to make the Deathly Hallows look like cherry bombs in comparison. But enough with that we need to conduct the spell, the alignment will be occurring any moment now."

"What about me? You said you'd unbind my magic."

"I know and I will. The spell we are going to do here will unleash a drastic amount of dark magic. It will flood the epicenter of the spell with so much dark magic than it will rip apart any spell cast with traditional and spirit magics" Cynthia said as she walked over from where she had been leaning against the wall.

A chime sounded from somewhere in the church before Blackwell said "the alignment is upon us. We will need to channel each other's dark magic in order to successfully cast the spell."

Her father walked to the opposite side of Elijah while Scarlett and Cynthia stood on the same side. Blackwell placed his arms out in front of him, over Elijah's chest, prompting Scarlett and Cynthia to do the same. The moment their hands linked in a triquetra, Scarlett could feel something inside her surge, it was a sensation she hadn't felt in months. Whether or not, it was her dark magic or her normal magic she didn't know, honestly, she didn't care. She was overjoyed at being able to feel it again.

Harry watched as they started chanting and he could feel a dark sensation wash over him. He was busy looking for a way out of the circle yet couldn't get out. He'd tried overpowering the spell but Blackwell was much stronger than him. He'd even tried channeling the Nexus Vorti again only for it to fail. He had to do something. The dark presence he felt grew stronger and stronger and then when the chanting stopped, the three of them were just moving their mouths, he could see the shadowy light coming from the three Blackwell witches, slowly crawl over the basement floor.

Desperately he called out "Dobby."

Dobby apparated directly into the circle and said "yous called, Master?"

"Dobby can you get me out of this circle?"

Dobby closed his eyes for a moment and said "no, Master, the circle is stronger than Dobby. Dobby is sorry, Master."

Harry looked at the shadowy light again just as it reached the edge of the flame circles. Harry watched as the flame started to recede slowly. Growling Harry turned to Dobby and said "get all the magical objects in the house and bring them to Potter Manor. Do not return until I call for you."

Dobby's ears flapped like sails in a hurricane as he nodded his head before popping away. The dark magic swam over Harry again, bringing him to his knees. He could feel his heart burning with the dark magic. The moment the dark magic passed the last of the flame circle it all cascaded out at once, throwing Harry back against the wall and ripping the basement doors from their hinges. He could see the three witches barely holding on to the spell as the dark magic spread from their combined magic.

Barely pulling himself from the wall had focused and watched as claws grew from his fingernails. Using every ounce of strength he had he dug them into the tile of the floor and pulled himself towards Klaus. Managing to pull himself to where his father was laying he pulled the knife from his chest, causing Klaus to release a soundless gasp. Harry grasped the knife firmly before blinging it towards the three witches. The knife embedded itself into Blackwell's leg, just a few inches above his knee. He let out a pained gasp as he fell backwards, breaking the spell and causing the three witches to get thrown back into the walls of the church basement.

Harry picked himself up off the floor and looked over to where Scarlett was picking herself up off the floor. Walking over to her he held her arms as she got up slowly. Their eyes met for a moment before Scarlett said "it worked. I can feel my magic."

"That's not the only thing that worked" Blackwell said from the other side of the basement.

Walking around Elijah's still desiccated body they saw that Blackwell had removed the knife from his leg and had managed to stop the bleeding miraculously.

"What do you mean" Harry asked.

"I mean, the spell was so much more than a protection spell. It was designed to destroy all other forms of magic it came into contact with."

"It couldn't have worked though, I'm a werewolf, I still have my powers."

"Not to mention you aren't of my bloodline, only a Balcoin should have been able to survive the spell."

"Balcoin" Scarlett asked.

"Generations ago the Blackwell's were called Balcoin's. Then the witch-hunters rose up and started to hunt us down. We changed our name so they would think they had succeeded."

Scarlett opened her mouth to say something before Harry thought of something.

"Wait a minute, you said 'survive'. Survive what?"

This caused Blackwell to start chuckling.

"Your ancestors, the Forsythe's. One of the families that founded New Salem. When I arrived here sixteen years ago looking for the covens I learned that one of them was descended from a group of witches calling themselves the Travelers. They had the goal of casting a spell to destroy all other forms of magic. So, when I left town after impregnating two of the women in the town, your mother being one of them, I took with me the Forsythe book of Shadows."

He reached into his petticoat and removed a leather-bound book. He tossed it at Scarlett's feet before continuing "I altered the spell so it would have channeled dark magic in order to destroy the enemies of the caster. I consider the enemies of the Balcoin family to be anyone that doesn't have dark magic."

"What" Scarlett whispered as the total consequences of what she did came down on her. She raced from the basement and up the stairs to the surface. Harry began to follow her before looking back at Blackwell slumped against the wall. Trying to suppress a sneer he walked back and picked up the knife and the Forsythe book of shadows, before running after Scarlett. Exiting the church Harry saw a startling scene in front of him.

It was dark out, despite only being about five pm. It was like a dark fabric had been pulled over the sky. He could easily make out the clouds and the sun was shining unobscured. But that was not the most startling thing. Harry walked over to where Scarlett was standing and saw what she saw.

The cars that were on the road by the church had all swerved, either hitting trees, telephone poles, or other cars.

"What happened here" they heard behind them. Turning around they saw that Klaus had gotten onto his feet and was slumped against the doorframe.

"The spell worked," Harry said, "it killed them."

"Harry," Scarlett said, "my family, what if they were affected."

"Are you good here" Harry said to Klaus who nodded.

Harry picked Scarlett up off her feet before speeding away as fast as he could.

Klaus stumbled back into the basement of the church. He had never been desiccated before, and he vowed never to experience it again. There was a burning sensation in his throat, a truly burning sensation he hadn't felt in over a thousand years. Looking around the basement he saw that both Blackwell and the girl that had been ben there when he had woken up. Walking over to the pool of blood that was on the floor he wiped his fingers through it before licking the crimson fluid from them. The burning sensation disappeared quickly as his body readjusted to having blood coursing through it. A gasp behind him drew his attention.

Elijah was sitting up from the altar, his skin still gray and desiccated.

"Hello brother" Klaus said smirking as Elijah turned his head. He watched as his older half-brother got up from the altar and looked at him.

"Niklaus" Elijah said the venom dripping in his voice.

"Still holding onto that grudge, it's been sixty years."

"That depends. Have you released Rebekah, or Kol, heck even Finn?"

"No on the last two, and I would never release Finn, he's much for charming in a box than he was as a man."

Elijah growled and lunged at Klaus though in his weakened state Klaus was easily able to doge his assault.

"Come now, brother. As you are you can't beat me. Now tell me, why are you here?"

"Sirius Black called me. We met when he was trailing Harry to meet you several months ago. That was the closest I had ever gotten to you. He told me about Harry, that he was your son. I warned him that Harry would become just like you. He called me here so that I could stop that happening."

"How? By killing him?"

"I did not wish to kill my own nephew, Niklaus. But seeing what you have become, after a thousand years, I was left with no other choice."

The two brothers looked at each other before Klaus said "we will accomplish nothing by fighting here today. I suggest you leave while you can."

"That's it, brother? No grand fight before you dagger me? You've grown soft."

"My son is more important to me right now than you. He has not abandoned me because of some stupid principle."

"He does not yet know the real you. When he does, and he will, then he will run, leaving you all alone." With that Elijah sped from the church to who-knows-where.

Harry came to a stop in front of the Palmer residence causing Scarlett to jump out of his arms towards the house.

"Abby, mom" she yelled as she practically tackled the door open. Harry followed close behind as she ran around the first floor of the house. By the time, Harry had gotten to the threshold she was already climbing the stairs, the moment Harry made to follow her, a pained shriek rang through the house.

Coming up the stairs behind her, Harry saw what had made her scream. Laying in the foyer at the top of the stairs was her mother. Her veins were dark and blood had pooled around her mouth, though it looked equally black and watery. Placing his hand on Scarlett's shoulder he walked past her to look into the other rooms on the floor. The first one he past he could see Scarlett's stepdad in his wheelchair slumped over his veins also black with watery blood coming from his mouth. His heart was beating in his chest as he walked to the room that looked the most childish, the room he assumed belonged to Abby.

Unfortunately, he was right, Abby too had suffered the same fate as her parents. She was laying on her bed, coloring books scattered around her. He closed his eyes and sighed before looking back at Scarlett. She must have known from the look on his face because the moment she saw him she burst into tears and wails. Walking over to her he knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder as she cried into it.

Klaus opened the door to Harry's house and strode inside, surprised to see Harry standing in the kitchen cutting something on the counter. Knocking on the threshold to the kitchen he got his sons attention.

"How'd it go" he said as Harry turned around, leaning against the counter.

"Well, Blackwell was right," Harry said, "the spell killed everyone without dark magic in the town. Scarlett's family included."

"Damn. How'd she take it?"

"About as well as expected. She's lying down upstairs."

"You're not with her?"

"I didn't know what to say. I felt awkward just sitting with her?"

Klaus sighed and walked closer to Harry.

"Harry, sometimes the awkward thing, is the right thing. Go to her, I'll finish with this."

Harry was about to do just that when someone started coming down the stairs. Looking in that direction they saw that Scarlett was walking to them slowly.

"Hey" Harry said softly.

Scarlett didn't say anything though she did flash him a smile.

"So, what's the plan" she said as she stood next to Harry.

"The plan? For what?"

"To kill Blackwell" Scarlett replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Scarlett, you've just gone through hell. Take a few days to rest and recuperate."

"No, Harry, I want him dead, now. After what he did to me, my sister, my mother, heck even for what he did to my step-father, I want him to suffer like they did before I rip his heart out. I think it's fitting."

Harry looked over at Klaus for a moment before saying "I understand that, but Blackwell is stronger than you, stronger than me. How do you propose we kill him?"

Scarlett was silent for a moment before saying "we can channel someone."

"Who? We'd need to channel someone with an enormous amount of power. In case you haven't noticed Elijah's gone."

"But he isn't" Scarlett said looking directly as Klaus. Harry was about to say something when one look at Scarlett's face caused him to shut his mouth. The look in her eyes promised untold pain for whoever got in her way.

"Hate to break it to you, love, but that won't be possible," Klaus said. "I've got a protection spell over me, rendering it impossible to channel me. Sorry."

"So, what then," Scarlett said angrily, "and don't ever, ever call me love."

Harry stood there for a moment before an idea came to him.

"There is one person you could channel."

"Who?"

"Me."

"You? Harry, I know you're strong, but you don't have enough power to kill Blackwell."

"I would if we broke the hybrid curse."

"How do you know about that" Klaus said sternly.

Harry smirked and said "my mother, she wasn't just any werewolf, she was an Original Werewolf. Descended from the first people who became werewolves. All the other ones, like yourself, are descended from someone who was bitten by a werewolf. Original werewolves, we can turn at will. Rendering the influence of the full moon unnecessary, and making the sun and moon curse, nothing more than a story."

"How do you know that?"

"Months ago, I found a nifty little stone that let me contact the Other Side, where the shades of all supernatural beings go when they die. My mother's there. She told me about the hybrid curse. I was born a witch, with the possibility of becoming a vampire or a werewolf. Activating one of those genes would result in the other being bound within the hybrid curse until it was broken. Since I became a werewolf…"

"Your vampire side was rendered dormant" Scarlett finished.

"Exactly. Now if we can break the hybrid curse, I'll become a vampire and we'll have someone to channel so that you can defeat your father."

Harry let this sink in before Scarlett said "Harry, if you become a vampire, you'll lose access to your magic."

Harry smiled lightly before walking over to Scarlett. Leaning in gently he kissed her with as much passion as he could. He placed his hands on Scarlett's hips and felt her run her hands up his chest before wrapping them around his neck and kissing him back.

Pulling back for air he said, "it'll be worth it."

The moment was broken by Klaus saying "this is all very touching, but how do you propose we find the necessary ingredients to break the spell. The vampire and the werewolf we need, those are easy to find. But we need the moonstone and the doppelganger. We then need to find the birthplace of the doppelganger and break the curse there."

Harry smirked and motioned for him to wait a moment before running up the stairs. Dobby had taken most of the spellbooks, along with the Resurrection Stone, and his Invisibility Cloak. But he had left the Hrimia journal. Rifling through the pages he found the charred remains of the map he had used as a bookmark. Returning to the kitchen he handed the map to Klaus.

"This is how we'll do that."

"With this map?"

"Sixteen years ago my mother found a spell in the Potter archives that acted as a locator spell. In exchange for not having an object to link the spell to what or who was being looked for it was rather unreliable in regards to the distance. But it would narrow down where the object was. It's funny in fact, she was going to give this to you the night you broke the affair off with her."

The look on Klaus' face was gold and Harry would remember it for years to come. Klaus snapped out of that revelation and looked back at the map. His eyes went over each of the towns listed on it before saying "it can't be."

"Can't be, what" Scarlett said.

"Mystic Falls. It's a one-horse town in Northern Virginia," Klaus said, "it's where my siblings and I were born. It's were we became Originals. It's almost in the middle of the map."

"That can't be a coincidence."

"So that's where we're going then" Harry said.

Harry stood in his room packing his suitcase once more in less than a year. Only now he didn't have an extended suitcase to stuff everything into. There were only a few grimoires left in the house, they could easily be placed in the trunk of Klaus' car. As he was putting his clothes into the suitcase the sound of someone at the door got his attention.

"Hey" Scarlett said quietly.

"Hey, yourself," Harry said, "something wrong? Suitcase all packed?"

"No actually. I, I can't go back there. Not after what I saw."

"It's fine. We'll get you some new stuff somewhere along the way."

Scarlett was silent for a moment before she said "you kissed me."

"I did, yes. Something wrong with it?"

"No, no, it was perfect. I just wasn't expecting it."

"I wouldn't offer to die for someone unless I had strong feelings for them."

This prompted Scarlett to initiate the kiss. Harry kissed her back as passionately as he could. Her hands started to wrap around his neck again while his descended to her hips. He pulled her close to him so that her practically flat chest was against his chest. They broke the kiss for air which prompted her smirk at what had just happened.

"Think you should have this" Harry said as he picked up one of the grimoires on his bed and handed to her.

"The Forsythe book of shadows" she said.

"It's yours by right," he said, "not to mention I don't really need it, do I."

This prompted Scarlett to kiss him again. However, a yell from downstairs got their attention before it could go any further.

"Harry, you're gonna want to get down here" Klaus said.

Harry ran down the stairs, followed by Scarlett, though they stopped when they saw who was standing at the door. It was Sirius, looking as bad as Harry had left him earlier that day. He was still dressed in a hospital gown and looked like he had just come from the hospital.

"You," Harry roared before pushing Sirius back from the doorway, sending him flying through the air and landing on the walkway to the house. He let out a pained groan as he skidded a few feet.

"How are you still alive?"

"I don't know," Sirius said his jaw still obviously hurting, "what happened here? Why are all the people dead?"

"Blackwell did this. And you helped him."

Harry picked Sirius up by the gown and threw him against his prized Porsche parked on the road.

"I'm alive because dark magic created vampirism, which I inherited," Harry said, "what's your excuse."

"He's a Black," Klaus said, "they've used so much dark magic over the generations that it must've bonded with their blood. He might not have practiced it but it's still active none the less."

"So that's all it took," Scarlett said as she walked down to where Harry had Sirius, "he won the genetic lottery."

She shoved Harry out of the way and punched Sirius in the face sending him to the ground.

"In what world do you get to live, but my sister dies," she roared at him as he punched him again and again. Harry looked on as she beat his godfather senseless. Then she turned to him and said, "give me the knife."

Without saying anything Harry removed the master tool knife from his belt and handed it to her.

"My sister is dead because you decided to help that psycho."

Before Sirius could say anything Scarlett stabbed the knife into Sirius' chest. Harry could see the life in Sirius' eyes dim before going out permanently. Harry leaned over her and took the knife from her hands before helping her up. He watched as she wiped the blood spatter from her face before walking back inside. Harry looked back at her before following her inside, letting Sirius' corpse lay on the sidewalk to rot.