Black and White

Part 1

Klaus Mikaelson kissed the top of Hope's head before he left his daughter at the front door of the school. She scrunched up her nose at the affectionate action but they both knew she didn't mind. Hope pushed up onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek back. Her English teacher waited, patiently holding the door open, a sleepy smile on her face "No Hayley today?" Emma Tig asked.

"She and my brother are on a weekend getaway in Paris. He's owed her a dance for a while now and wanted to make a big show out of finally paying up." Klaus acted as though he were disgusted by the notion, but the corner of his mouth tilted upwards.

"My father's side of the family is comprised of hopeless romantics. Dad likes to pretend he isn't, but I've watched him give in too much to buy that." Hope smirked as she followed her teacher into the school. She turned back once to wave goodbye.

Hayley was the one to insist Hope attend Mystic Falls High and grow up with as normal a childhood she could for at least those four years. Klaus hadn't wanted to let her leave his side at all and fought tooth and nail until Hayley, Freya, Elijah, and Rebekah all teamed up against him. Hope hadn't had an opinion either way, though she wasn't confident she would fit in with human teenagers. Mrs.Tig had helped somewhat.

Hope got to school an hour early and stayed an hour late on Tuesdays and Thursdays to study the ancient and arcane languages most commonly used for spellwork. At home, Freya began teaching her the basics of magic. Any time Hope had a skill or spell to show Klaus, he practically glowed with pride. Kol too took a special interest in Hope's magic.

"One day I might understand your family's dynamics, but today isn't that day, Ms. Mikaelson." Ms.Tig said as she led Hope to her classroom and started breaking down the conjugation of Latin verbs.

Hope ate from a bag of breakfast pastries her dad had compelled the family chef to bake for her while she worked. The upside of public school education was Hope getting to look forward to her art class in the third period. If she'd been at the Salvatore School, she would have to take History of Vampires instead or something about her own family, even. As if her own family weren't the entire history of the species themselves. Hope always thought that if the headmaster was smart, he'd just ask her Uncle Elijah to teach the class.

Ms.Tig finished the brief lesson and Hope packed up her notebooks and crossed the hall to her homeroom where she would take the 'school approved' version of the same Latin class. Hope pulled out her sketchbook to draw while she waited for her class to cover something she didn't already know. Without paying attention to what she was drawing, Hope sketched and watched the clock. Now and again Penelope Park would bop her in the back of the head with a piece of paper and make a face at her from across the room. She was surprised to find the same clock on the page of her sketchbook, except bearing wings where the regular hands of the clock ought to be.

"Ms. Mikaelson, if you could read the first line back to me?" the teacher asked, annoyed that Hope never seemed to have to put in any real effort and unaware of the private lessons she took in secret.

Hope rifled quickly through her Latin folder until she pulled out a sheet that looked right. The words were already coming to her too quickly when Hope realized they were not what her teacher wanted to hear. "Diabolus flava..." Hope hadn't felt that much power pull through her body since she was a kid and not in control of the spell herself. She had no idea what she was casting, met Penelope's eyes in a panic, then sat down heavily in her chair. All of her classmates' eyes on her in curiosity.

"I don't know what you were reading from, but you've made your point. Sit down and don't disrupt my class again." The teacher seemed irritated by Hope's 'showing off'.

"Well, you certainly showed her what you were made of, didn't you?" a voice Hope didn't recognize asked from over her shoulder. She almost jumped a foot in the air.

"Who are you? What are you talking about?!" Hope hissed under her breath, refusing to turn around and look back for fear of getting in trouble. Hope knew that more than a little mental illness ran through her family. Fear struck hot and hard in her chest.

Another piece of paper hit the side of Hope's head and she unfolded it. Instead of the usual rude drawing, Hope saw a note. Who is that girl behind you? Can you see her? -P

Hope shrugged to answer the first question and nodded to answer the second. She could still feel the girl behind her and didn't know how or why. Maybe if she ignored her she would just go away? As the class came to an end, though, and she thought maybe the spell had dissipated, she could feel her hair being played with.