❝ this year will be different. ❞
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Katherine sits on the couch in the Headmaster's office, sipping my daily mug of coffee as Professor Vardemus walks in with Dorian. "Well, this simply won't do." He hums to himself. The Valentine narrows her eyes at him. "Phantamogriphia Decorum." The entire room changes, the walls now a shade of green, and the furniture now expensive leather. "Simple illusion spell, but appearances can be important, don't you think, Mr. Williams? Ms. Valentine?"
The vampire witch stands up, wearing a short tight black plaid skirt with a black top tucked in. "Couldn't agree more." She mutters, sipping on her coffee again.
"The faculty are waiting to meet you, Professor Vardemus." Dorian says calmly, trying to be nicer thant Katherine was being.
Vardemus laughed, looking between the librarian and the Valentine. "Please. Call me Headmaster." He crooned. Katherine felt like rolling her eyes, but gave her fakest smile. She exited the room quickly, strutting down the hall.
Katherine carried herself with excellence. After her death, the school felt like they deserved to treat her better than before. It was like the food chain of the Salvatore school had heightened, and once again, Katherine was above them all. Except this time around, she had a new focus.
Landon.
The Kirby awkwardly walked into the main room, glancing at a witch. The witch girl smirked, waving her hand in the air. "Hey..." The unfamiliar brunette witch trailed with a magical message. Landon raised a brow, not sure what to do. His eyes widened in surprise when he sees Katherine waltz in. Classmates stared in awe as she strutted towards him. Her eyes land on the witch, as well as Landon, and the boy could feel the aggressive tension rise as she approached. He opened his mouth to warn her, but the look on Katherine's face told him it'd be best to watch the show instead.
The witch didn't seem to notice Katherine waltzing over, as she was more focused on the Phoenix. Katherine raised a brow, and Landon half expected her to blow up the witches head. However, to classmates and even Landon's surprise, she walked right past the brunette. "Hey," The Valentine says to Landon, her voice soft and seductive. Landon smiles, surprised when Katherine loops her arms around him, and pulls him in for a passionate, long kiss. The brunette witch scoffs, walking away from the couple as Landon grabs onto Katherine's waist.
He pulls away, exhaling sharply. "Wow." He breathed, not expecting any of that to occur.
"Welcome to the world of popularity, bird boy." Katherine coos, cupping his cheek. She tilted her head in thought. "Are you still taking me to dinner tonight?"
Landon nods quickly. "Wouldn't miss it." He told her, kissing Katherine again. The Valentine giggles as she pulls away. "Are you heading to class?"
The Valentine sighs, "No, I am actually heading to prepare for the Assembly. Being a paid intern requires some work." She says, looking down at Landon's lips again.
"Well, boss lady, I guess I will see you then." Landon chimes, pecking Katherines lips one last time before walking away. Katherine watches, smiling to herself as Josie Saltzman walks over.
Josie raises a brow. "I'm sorry, but you and Landon are the most shocking couple to ever exist at the Salvatore school." She says. Her and Katherine weren't necessarily friends again, but they were on talking terms. Both of them had moved on from the previous years events, luckily. To Josie, it was still a bit weird, but she decided not to hold any grudges. Maybe, because deep down, Josie still felt for the Valentine. On Katherine's side, she never really cared if Josie hated her or not, as they were better off this way anyways.
Katherine shakes her head. "No. I think the most shocking couple would be you and Hope." The Valentine mumbles. Josie's eyes widen in confusion. Instead of saying more, Katherine struts off, leaving the siphoner by herself.
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
Headmaster Vardemus stands at the podium. "This school has survived a difficult year. There were monsters and Triad, and frankly, the headmaster you trusted to keep you safe ended up putting you in more danger." Landon glanced at Katherine, who narrowed her eyes at Vardemus's remark. ""But this year will be different. It's high time this place ran with a little discipline and order. I expect you to work harder than ever before. To be rigorous, to push yourselves. To be perfect. Because I believe every one of you is extraordinary." Students begin to mumble, surprised by the words. "The students in this room have the power to literally change the world. To whom much is given, much is required, and I am requiring of you to be better than humans ever could. Because the day is coming when we will step out of the shadows, when you will no longer hide yourselves." Professor Vardemus says.
"Because the future is supernatural." He slams his staff onto the ground, a wave of magic flying through the room. Classmates begun to clap. Lizzie and Josie look around, awkward and unimpressed, clapping slowly as the Headmaster walks up to the podium. "To that end, I would like to award our Salvatore Medal of Freedom to the students who single-handedly defeated Malivore, Mr. Landon Kirby and Ms. Katherine Valentine."
Landon looked at the vampire girl next to him, who smirked wildly as she stood, taking his hand in hers. The students watched as the couple approached the front of the room. Classmates clapped wildly for the Phoenix and the resurrected vampire. Vardemus put the medal around Landons neck. Landon looked at Katherine, seeing nothing but pure joy for him on her face. It was a new look for the girl. Maybe, after all this time, Landon was finally able to break into the cold heart of Katherine Valentine.
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
In class, Landon and Katherine sat next to one another. "How does the existence of dragons and dryads and phoenixes change what we know about magical biology?" Vardemus began. Katherine leaned against her hand, tapping a pencil on the table. "It could be the discovery of a lifetime."
The vampire girl scoffs. "He is such a pompous ass." She mumbles. Josie, who sits in the table in front of them, begins the giggle.
Jed leans over. "At least he hasn't tried to kill us all yet." He whispers. Suddenly, Josie's giggles stop, and she slowly sinks in her chair. Noticing this, Katherine glances at him, narrowing her eyes.
"Was I talking to you, dog boy?" She snips, causing Jed to glare at her. "I don't think I was."
Landon glanced down at his own paper, seeing a drawing appear. He looked at Katherine, who also looked down in curiosity. It was a drawing of, well, him. Katherine looked up slowly, narrowing her eyes at the same small brunette witch from before. Jealousy rises in the Valentine's chest. Landon wasn't interested in the girl, no, but it angered Katherine that this pathetic witch thought she could try something so bold. She wondered how someone could be so stupid to mess with the Katherine Valentine. So, as she twirled her finger in her hair, Katherine tilted her head as she whispered. "Invidia."
It was only a few moments until the girls hand touched her face, blood quickly spilling from her nose. Katherine snickered as the witch scampered out of class. Headmaster Vardemus watched, his eyes trailing back to the Valentine. Unlike other students, who would have shrunk in their seats, Katherine stood up straighter, giving the same stare to him. Landon looks over at Katherine, his movement catching her attention. She placed her hands over his, giving a comforting squeeze.
After class, the couple walked out together. "So, how do you feel about sushi?" Landon asks, walking alongside her.
Katherine shook her head, "I wasn't a big fish person when I was younger." She confessed.
Landon shrugged, "Well, maybe now that you're alive, again, you like different food." He says in thought. Katherine tilt her head, trying to think. "But we don't have to try that on the first date, we can go get Italian."
"I love Italian." Katherine beams. Landon chuckles, nodding quickly. Her phone rings, the two looking at the caller ID. "It's Dr. Saltzman." She whispers. "I'll see you," Katherine walks away from Landon, answering the phone. "Hello, Ricky Saltzman."
"Never call me that again." Alaric says to her. "Listen, me and a vampire hunter found another monster, a troll."
Katherine struts down the hall. "Yikes." She mutters, taking a smoothie from Lizzie, who had been gracious enough to get one for her.
Alaric shakes his head as he looks at Hope Marshall. "It gets worse, a human saw it." He says, glancing at Maya. "Do you still have compulsion?"
Katherine nods. "Yeah, of course." She states. "I'll grab MG too, just in case." She says, hanging up. She walks to her office, which was the old counselors office. The office now had black leather seating, and her desk was clean except for her work phone, her intercom speaker, and a large file in the middle that Vardemus must have given her. She doesn't look at it yet, but instead uses the intercom to call MG to her office.
When Milton Greasley walks in, his eyes land on the girl. She was only taking two classes now at the school, both of which were with Landon, but other than that, she was practically his superior. "Hey, Katherine." He says, smiling. Luckily, she was fine with older students calling her by her first name. Younger kids like Pedro called her Ms. Valentine or Ms. V.
"MG, sit down, please." She cooed as she leaned back. MG looks at her nervously, slowly sitting across from her on a leather black chair. "How are you? With the schools transition of headmaster, and other things."
The vampire boy clasps his hands together awkwardly. "I mean, Vardemus seems cool and all, but he's not Dr. Saltzman." Katherine nods, listening closely. "He seems a bit full of himself, you know?"
Katherine places her hand on the desk. "I completely understand." She says to him. "I actually have to go to the high school to help Dr. Saltzman. I thought you might want to come with me." She offers, giving Milton a smile.
"Like, yeah!"
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
"The sound was just a busted water pipe. And then Dr. Saltzman-" MG begins to compel.
"Principal Saltzman." Alaric corrects.
MG gives a sheepish glance and nods. "My bad. Principal Saltzman turned the water off and took care of everything." His pupils dilate back and forth, as does the brunette girls in front of him. From what Katherine could gather, the humans name was Maya. Nothing interesting about her, other than that she had just saw Alaric and this random girl kill a troll.
"Wow. Crazy first day, huh?" Maya jokes.
"Great. You can head back to class now." Alaric says to Maya. The girl nods obediently before heading towards the door.
MG moves towards the other girl in the room. "Don't even think about it." She huffed, annoyed.
The vampire looks back at Katherine, and the two look over at Ric. He shakes his head at them "Hey, if he trusts you, so do I." MG said quickly, looking over at the Hope girl. "Uh, by the way, I don't usually do this. I'm not trying take anyone's agency or anything, you know?" He says awkwardly. "So, I got to jet. I got a study date with some uh," He pauses, looking at Dr. Saltzman. "Uh, someone. It could be anybody, really." Katherine raises a brow, confused.
"Well, thanks for getting here so quickly. I appreciate it."
"Any time. You're you'll always my headmaster." MG smiles at Dr. Saltzman. He looks back at Katherine. MG clears his throat awkwardly before heading off.
The door shuts behind MG. "I have an hour break," Katherine states, grabbing the cup of coffee from the desk.
The girl, who's name was Hope looks at Alaric. "So, uh, why aren't you headmaster of that other school anymore?" She asks him.
Dr. Saltzman chuckles"It's a long story." He says.
"Oh. Okay." Hope says shortly. "I'll be back once school lets out so we can clean up what's probably a dead troll." She shrugs, walking away.
Katherine raise a brow. "You're really not fazed by any of this, are you?" She asks, sipping from her mug
Hope looks at Katherine. Obviously, Hope wasnt fazed. But they didn't know that. Katherine didn't know anything, which made it worse. "I mean, I just think that the story that Principal Saltzman told me, about the monsters and the scary black pit, just makes a lot of sense, I guess." She says softly. "Um, look, I'm really glad to hear that it stopped. I'm sorry that it's happening again."
"It's not your fault." Alaric says. Hope says nothing, causing Katherine to furrow her brow. "Now that I know your cover story is a lie, I'm assuming Tom and Kathleen aren't real." She scrunches up her lips, as if admitting without saying anything. "Okay. The school I used to work at, you'd be welcome there."
Katherine speaks up "It's a good place. We treat our kids well." She explains, giving a sly smile.
"Oh, um," Hope shuffles her feet. "Yeah, that sounds amazing. But I'm just passing through." She excuses.
Alaric continues to go on. "Hey, look, I, uh I don't really have access to that school's resources anymore, and I'm trying to give my daughters some space. But if these monster attacks are starting up again, I could use the backup." He explains to the girl. "I don't really have anyone else other than Katherine." The Valentine awes, patting Rics arm in appreciation.
Hope looks between them. "I work better alone."
She walks out the door, Alaric chuckling as he turns to his desk. "She's a strange one." Katherine says in thought. "She seemed, knowing."
"What does that mean?" Alaric laughed. Katherine shrugged, looking back at the door the Marshall had came from.
Something was off, but Katherine couldn't figure out what.
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
Landon glanced at Katherine, who wore a black short sleeve top and leather skirt. "Are you sure you don't want my jacket?" He asks her, skill softly. The two had just finished up their date, and were walking through Mystic Falls square.
Katherine turns to him, tilting her head in thought. "I'm not cold." She shrugs. However, as a cool breeze rushes over her, she shivers slightly, rubbing her hands over her arms.
Landon snorts. "I don't really believe that." He says. Katherine purses her lips as Landon shrugs off his jacket, sliding it over her arms.
"It looks horrible with my outfit." She says, sending him a playfully annoyed look.
"Trust me when I say you look beautiful in literally anything." Landon says as he looks over the girl in admiration. "Did you have a good time at dinner?" Katherine smiles at his question. She walks up to him, running her hand through his curls in thought.
Katherines brown eyes were soft and glistened as she looked at Landon. "I had an amazing time, Landon." Her voice is soft and soothing, which causes Landon's anxious heart to settle down. "I have to go do some paperwork, so I'm going to head to the Grill for a bit. Pedros friend got into a fight and I have to send their parents an email."
Landon smiles, kissing Katherines forehead. "I'll see you tonight." He says to her. Katherine nods, parting ways with the Kirby, at least for now.
Night soon fell upon the Valentine. She had done her homework, emailed parents, and did some paperwork Vardemus wanted her to complete. Alaric Saltzman found Katherine, updating her on two things. One; their troll wasnt a troll after all. And two; it was running around Mystic Falls.
Hope glanced at Katherine awkwardly as she watched the Valentine. The differences in Katherines personality were small, but influential. Katherine seemed to care more. About life, about people. Katherine almost seemed happy, and it killed Hope to know Landon was doing all of this for Katherine. Jealousy. Hope felt jealous. Jealous that her boyfriend was the one person who singlehandedly broke down Katherines walls. And every time Hope saw them, she realized how good they were together. Landon Kirby; a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Nerdy, quirky, awkward, and strange. But also strong, charming, selfless, and brave. Then, there was Katherine Valentine; a witch from New Orleans. She was selfish, bitchy, and independent and confident. But also caring, and brave, funny, and smart. The two communicated, which was something Hope and Landon knowingly lacked. As Hope continued to compare her and Landon's relationship to his and Katherine's, she realized how much better the two were.
When Hope noticed the troll nearing the oblivious Landon, who sat on a bench blasting music as he wrote in his notebook, she looked over at an angry Katherine. "Icaeus." Hope frowned in confusion as Katherine used magic to send the monster flying backwards. Hope runs forward, leaping into the air to punch the monster.
The creature swings his arm, causing Hope to fly backwards. She stumbled to her feet, but the monster grabbed her by her head, pulling her up in the air. Katherine narrowed her eyes, grabbing Dr. Saltzman's crossbow and shooting an arrow through the monsters hand. "You stay away from her." Katherine snarled. Alaric ran forward, trying to fight the monster off long enough for Katherine to grab Hope. However, to nobody's surprise, Alaric is too tossed to the ground. Katherine kneels down to Hope, who slowly sits up.
Katherine looks back, "Incendia!" Hope shouts, causing the creature to light on fire. The monsters head catches on fire, and the monster quickly tries to pat it out. The hair in the creatures face singes off, revealing its singular eye.
"New theory," Alaric pants from the ground. "Cyclops."
Hope looks at Katherine, who's face contorts into something Hope hadn't seen in years. Black veins, deep black and red eyes, baring fangs. Katherine uses her magic to bring herself Alaric's arrow. "Sorry." She mutters before tossing the arrow straight through its eye.
The monster slowly falls to the ground. Dr. Saltzman stumbles towards Hope and Katherine. "You think it's really, uh-"
Before he can finish, the cyclops began to disintegrate into nothingness, ashes falling around the three of them. "Yup." Hope chirps finally.
"Great," He hums, taking the crossbow. "Let's get out of here." He waves the two along, but neither of them move.
As ash begins to fall around them, Katherine walks a few feet over, stopping when Landon stands from the bench. He slowly turn around, his eyes glancing at Hope for a moment, before finally landing on Katherine. Hope felt her heart shatter as he only looked at the Valentine. His green eyes practically lit up as he dropped his earbuds and notepad on the bench. Katherines vampire eyes faded as she ran towards him, Landon wrapping his arms around her tightly. He lifted her off the ground, the couple finding comfort in each other's grasps. When they pulled away from one another, Hope couldn't even look away when Katherine smashed her lips onto the Kirbys. It was obvious to Hope now, that whatever Landon and Katherine shared, was more than she anticipated.
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
Hope looked at Landon. Katherine was back at the school, she assumed, and Landon had found Hope in the square. "I'm with this really great girl, but all of a sudden, everything's super...amazing, too amazing." He says, wondering if his relationship with Katherine was too good to be true. "You?"
Hope chuckles. "Uh, old story, I guess. Fell for a guy who doesn't even know that I exist."
"That's classic."
"Yeah." She says awkwardly. Hope felt like screaming at Landon. Telling him who she was, trying to make him remember. But she could t.
Landon spoke up again. "She is really great, but I just feel like I want it to be perfect, and it is." Hope nods as he tired to find the right words. "I want to be the perfect boyfriend, and she doesn't even need to try to to be the perfect girlfriend, it's just so effortless for her." He explains. "And Im worried that things are only going to stay so good for so long, and then everything will go down hill." Hope purses her lips together, unsure what to say. "Sorry."
"No," Hope shook her head. "You know, a very smart boy once taught me that sometimes you have to be brave enough to be imperfect with people even if it's scary."
Their conversation continues, the two eventually parting ways. Landon made his way back to the Salvatore school while Hope cried. He was gone again, not knowing who she was.
Katherine sat in her bed, reading a book when a knock was in her door. "Come in!" She chimes, smiling when she sees Landon. The boy walks in, sitting beside her. "Hey,"
Landon looks at her, smiling. "Hi." He replied. Shaking his head, Landon looked at her. "Are we going too fast for you? For us?" He blurted. "I mean, we're doing so well. No problems but,"
"You're worried that our current fairy tale love story isn't going to end with a happy ending." Katherine says. Landon caught on to the words love story, and wanted to explode with excitement. But, he didn't.
"Yeah." He whispers.
Katherine looks down, taking Landon's hand in hers. "I have lived long enough to know that this is special, Landon." She explains to the boy. "You are the most important person in my life, and there isn't a thing I wouldn't do to help you." Landon looks at Katherine, "I care about you,"
The boy looks down at the Valentine's lips, leaning in slow to kiss her gently. Katherines eyes fluttered shut as she caressed his face with her palm. It was in this moment Landon thought about what Dr. Saltzman told him months ago. Where if Katherine liked him the way he liked her, she'd let him know, and she'd let him know quickly. She did exactly that, in moments like these. And he loved every moment, wishing they'd never end.