Chapter Text
Hope had thought it would be easier than this. All she needed to do was spend a few days at Mystic Falls high to track down that troll and make sure it was dead, all while making sure no one noticed her or the troll. But of course nothing was ever easy, was it?
In the span of one day, Hope had had to face the blank stare of a Dr. (Principal?) Saltzman who didn’t remember her at all, got caught doing magic by Dr. Saltzman, effectively blowing any cover she had, and accidently exposed one of her classmates to an ugly ass troll, which meant she had to see MG again too. And she hadn’t even killed the damn thing yet. Hope is about ready to cry for the second time that day as she sits in Dr. Saltzman’s office.
“Hope, I know I mentioned this earlier, but I really think you should consider going to the Salvatore school. It was made for people like you,” Alaric said, sitting behind his desk.
“I really wish I could, but…” Hope trails off, not having a way to explain how painful it would be to go back to a place full of people that couldn’t remember her. Not without subjecting Dr. Saltzman to pain of knowing that he had forgotten her in the first place.
“Hope, whatever reason it is that you think you can’t go there, or don’t deserve to, it won’t matter. The staff there are good people and they know how to help kids who have gone through tough things. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or what you’re afraid of, they can help.” Alaric stops and sighs. “I guess I just hate the idea of someone as young and skilled as you are, not having a safe place to grow and learn. Everyone deserves that.”
“It sounds really nice, I just…” Hope murmurs, omitting another actual reason. She hadn’t planned on staying in Mystic Falls long, but something tells Hope that Dr. Saltzman would object even more to the idea of her wandering off into the world on her own.
“Well, as long as you have somewhere to go.”
Hope freezes unconsciously at that. God, where was she going to go tonight?
Alaric definitely notices Hope’s reaction. He narrows his eyes at her. “Hope? You do have somewhere to go, right?”
Hope shakes her head slowly, too tired to think of a lie. A part of her suddenly wishes she could just go back to her room at the Salvatore school, to her stuff, to someplace familiar, something close to what she might call home. She just wanted to lie down and not think about all of her problems for at least a few hours.
“Hope.” Alaric sighs. He gets up and walks closer to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You know I can’t send you out without a place to go.”
Hope nods, struggling to keep her tears from falling. She didn’t even know why she was crying. It had just been such a long day and she just wanted to go home, except she didn’t have a home to go to anymore because no one could remember her. Okay, so maybe that’s why she’s crying.
“I’m going to make a call to the Salvatore School, okay?” Alaric says softly. “They’ll be happy to have you.”
All Hope can do is nod as more tears fall down her cheeks. Alaric walks over to the phone and dials up the school.
“...Yes, that would be great. I can drive her over tonight if that works… Okay, we’ll be there in a bit. Thanks.” Alaric hangs up the phone and turns back to Hope. He picks up the tissue box on his desk and hands them over to her, which she accepts gratefully.
“Whenever, you’re ready to go. They’ll have a room ready for you and the dining halls are open late so you can still get something to eat if you haven’t yet.” There is such a gentle kindness in Alaric’s voice. It makes Hope’s heart ache.
Hope stands up and hands Dr. Saltzman back the tissue box after stuffing a few more in her pockets. She means to thank him, tell him how much his kindness means to her right now, but she doesn’t trust herself to say anything. But then she finds herself stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Dr. Saltzman, relaxing unconsciously against his familiar warmth.
Alaric freezes, clearly not expecting it. After a second, he awkwardly returns the hug.
“Sorry, sorry,” Hope says quickly, stepping back and wiping her eyes. She chides herself for doing something so stupid. He doesn’t remember you , Hope forcefully reminds herself.
“It’s okay. Are you ready to go? Do you have to grab anything?” Alaric says, looking rather uncomfortable.
“I’m ready,” Hope says and she follows him to his car. They drive the familiar road to the Salvatore school in awkward silence and Hope feels the tears prickling at her eyes again. She really doesn’t want to cry anymore.
When they reach the gates, Dorian is standing on the other side of them. Hope and Alaric exit the car and make their way toward the gate as Dorian unlocks them.
“Alaric,” Dorian greets, “it’s good to see you.”
“Yeah, it’s good to see you too.” Alaric furrows his brow for a moment. “Why isn’t the new headmaster here doing this?” He asks.
“I was already up, so I handled it.”
“Okay, well, this is Hope,” Alaric says and then turns to address Hope. “If you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to give me a call,” Alaric says, handing Hope his business card.
Hope nods and takes the card before turning to face Dorian.
Dorian waves awkwardly. “Hello, Hope. I’m Dorian. I’ll take you inside and show you to your room. You’ll get a full tour tomorrow if you’re up for it and we’ll make sure that you have clothes for tomorrow as well. We’re glad you’re here.”
Hope nods and makes her way through the gate. She turns and waves goodbye to Dr. Saltzman. He waves back before getting into his car and pulling away. There is a melancholy expression on his face, and Hope can only guess as to why. She’s too tired to consider it for long though, moving to follow Dorian as she dreams of falling asleep in her own bed.
Oddly enough, the room that they assign Hope is her old room. It doesn’t have any of her things in it, well her contraband is probably still in her hiding places, but she was more hoping for like a sweatshirt or something.
Dorian mutters something about them not knowing why the room was unused before leaving her to get settled. There is fresh bedding on the bed and a very comfy looking blanket and pillow. And that is basically all Hope sees as her exhaustion starts to weigh on her. She’d have time to take a better look around in the morning, or at least that’s what she tells herself as she takes off her jacket and lies down in the bed. She’s asleep in seconds, for what she thinks is the first time in her life.
Hope wakes up to a knock on her door. She groans softly and ducks her head under her blankets to avoid the sunlight streaming through her windows. Unfortunately, whoever is at the door clearly doesn’t take her silence as a signal to come back later, as they knock again, louder this time. Hope growls low under her breath and drags herself out of bed, fully intending to tell whoever is at the door to go away so she could keep sleeping.
When Hope opens the door, however, she is faced with a very awake Lizzie Saltzman, dressed in her usual stylish outfit. Having slept in a familiar room and being greeted by a familiar face, Hope momentarily forgets the nature of her situation.
“Lizzie?” Hope says in surprise, almost immediately realizing her mistake as Lizzie’s eyes widen.
“Oh, did they tell you I was coming?” Lizzie asks, clearly shocked that the new student knew her name already.
“Uh, yeah, they did,” Hope says quickly.
“Well, I feel like a proper introduction is past due, then.” Lizzie pauses, dramatically of course. “I’m Elizabeth Saltzman, Lizzie for short, and you will have the privilege of receiving a tour of the school from me today. I brought you a change of clothes. There’s two sets in there, so something should fit,” Lizzie says, handing Hope a bundle of clothes.
“Okay, thanks,” Hope says, a little stunned from almost making a really big mistake. Hope also can’t help but smile a little at Lizzie’s dramatic antics. There’s something so ridiculous and so familiar about Lizzie that just being around her is enough to make Hope feel at home. Which is something Hope certainly never thought she would say in her entire life.
“Feel free to change, I’ll be out here when you’re done,” Lizzie says with a smile. She takes a step to the left and leans against the wall outside Hope’s door as Hope steps back into her room, the door closing behind her.
Hope changes quickly, wishing she had time to shower, but not wanting to keep Lizzie waiting. The clothes fit her well, and she thinks that the pants might actually be hers. Her stuff must’ve gotten recycled into the school’s storage.
When Hope comes out of her room, Lizzie looks her up and down and gives a approving nod. “I thought those pants would look good on you. Shall we?” She says, motioning for them to walk down the hall.
Hope follows her absently. She doesn’t know if it’s the compliment, the complete irony of the compliment, or that fact that Lizzie had been the one to compliment her, but Hope feels extremely disoriented. Everything is so familiar and unfamiliar at once. After a moment, Hope realizes that Lizzie is talking and tunes back in.
“You’re probably hungry, so we can go to the dining hall first.” Lizzie says. “The dining hall is on the first floor and shouldn’t be hard to find most mornings. Just look for where all the kids in pajamas are going.”
And Hope is hungry, hungrier than she’d realized. Lizzie raises a curious eyebrow at her from behind her cup of coffee as Hope scarfs down three plates worth of food. Vaguely seeing the look out of the corner of her eye, Hope expects Lizzie to make a rude comment about her eating habits, like she always does, but it never comes.
Instead Lizzie gives a slight laugh as she brings her mug back down to the table. “Are you sure you’re not a wolf?” Lizzie asks with an amused smile.
The comment sets off Hope’s fight or flight response, but she shoves it down. “Um, yeah, no. Just a witch,” Hope responds nervously, but thankfully Lizzie doesn’t seem to notice.
“So, once you’re done eating your weight in food, I’ll show you the grounds and then some of the classroom areas. You should be meeting with a counselor to get your schedule figured out tomorrow, I think. Don’t quote me on that,” Lizzie says with a laugh.
It’s weird for Hope. The way the Lizzie teases is extremely familiar, but it lacks the mean spiritedness and genuine insult that Hope is so used to from the girl. Yeah, the two girls had begun reconciling before Hope had thrown herself into Malivore, but that doesn’t mean she was used to Lizzie being anything but mean to her.
And that’s the way the rest of the morning goes. Lizzie shows Hope around, being uncharacteristically nice and friendly. Hope struggles to keep her cover of being a new student, trying her best not to walk ahead of Lizzie or say anything she shouldn’t know. It’s much harder than she thought it would be, especially considering how many questions she wants to ask about things she shouldn’t know anything about, like about why Dr. Saltzman isn’t headmaster.
Despite how strange it is, Hope appreciates Lizzie’s constant explanation of the things around them. The girl always did have a tendency to ramble, which Hope used to find irritating, but now she is grateful for the distraction. It keeps her from dwelling on all the familiar faces that don’t recognize her and what will happen if she runs into Landon, which she knows is inevitable.
Lizzie also keeps asking Hope about herself, which is nice and perfectly normal, but Hope can’t say much without giving herself away. She tries her best to dodge the questions without drawing too much suspicion.
“So, where are you from then, Hope?” Lizzie asks with a friendly smile.
Hope hesitates. “Um, I’ve lived in a lot of different places,” Hope says awkwardly. “What about you, have you lived in Mystic Falls long?”
“Pretty much all of my life. My dad started this school when my sister and I were 6 years old.”
“Oh, wow, that’s cool. Um, do you usually do tours for new students?” Hope asks Lizzie another question quickly to avoid receiving one herself.
“Oh yeah, considering I basically grew up here, I know this school like the back of my hand. I actually usually do this with my twin sister, but she’s hanging out with her boyfriend today.” Lizzie says the word boyfriend with a heap of contempt.
Hope cringes at the statement, knowing that it’s Landon she’s referring to. Although, Hope has to appreciate Lizzie’s clear distaste for Josie and Landon’s relationship, even if she knows she shouldn’t.
“Speaking of which, do you have a boyfriend?” Lizzie asks in an odd tone of voice. If Hope didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought that Lizzie was flirting.
“No, I definitely don’t have a boyfriend,” Hope says darkly, her gaze falling to the floor at the reminder.
Lizzie seems to interpret Hope’s reaction a little differently, her eyes going wide. “Oh, I get that. I don’t have a boyfriend either, so at least you’re in good company,” Lizzie says, with a smile, watching Hope out of the corner of her eye.
Hope doesn’t notice the misunderstanding and just nods as they continue on the tour.
The tour ends around noon with Lizzie taking Hope to the headmasters office to meet the new head master. Lizzie dramatically laments having to go back to doing her homework and waves goodbye. Hope rolls her eyes fondly before knocking on the office door. An accented voice invites her inside and she walks in.
The headmaster immediately sets off several warning alarms in Hope’s head. She makes a mental note to keep an eye on him. He goes off on a ten minute rant about the virtues of supernatural ability, unnecessarily explaining his belief set. Once he’s done, the headmaster informs Hope that she will meet with a counselor to discuss how her schedule will look once they are done speaking. The headmaster finishes by welcoming her rather coldly to the school, which Hope notes down as another odd behavior, and sending her down the hall.
The counselor conducts a few tests to determine where Hope can start in the curriculum. Hope reigns her abilities in a little to not give herself away too much. Either way, the counselor is impressed and gives her a mock up of her schedule, saying that she can start as early as tomorrow if she is feeling up to it. The counselor finishes by asking if there is anything they can do for Hope, and when she says no, they send her away.
Hope takes the opportunity to sneak off campus to go back to hunting the injured troll. Despite everything that she had been struggling to process all day, the back of her mind had been constantly itching to finish the job she started. She needed to put that troll down before it hurt anyone. Hope easily remembers how to circumvent the school’s security and escapes without anyone seeing.
Dr. Saltzman is surprised to see her, to say the least, but Hope just explains that she needs his help to chase down the troll, which is only partially true. After everything that has happened so far, the logical part of Hope’s brain tells her that it’s probably not a good idea for her to go in alone. And maybe, despite the fact he can’t remember her, Hope still finds Dr. Saltzman’s presence comforting. Either way, he agrees to help and they set off tracking the thing.
It takes the majority of the afternoon for them to find and bring down the creature. During the fight, Hope fire spells the thing’s hair, revealing a third eye that had been hidden underneath. Guess it’s not a troll, then , Hope thinks as she tries to wrack her mind for any information on cyclopses. In the end, Dr. Saltzman brings it down with a crossbow bolt to the third eye and the body conveniently burns to ash right after.
Hope awkwardly thanks Dr. Saltzman for his help, and he looks like he wants to ask her a whole heap of questions. Which is why she leaves as unceremoniously and as quickly as possible, knowing she didn’t have any good answers for him. Hope rushes back to campus, hoping no one noticed that she had been gone. She makes it back just in time for dinner, and, man, is she hungry.