Black and White

Part 7

"Whoa... whoa, whoa, whoa." Hope spoke quickly beneath her breath, trying to keep her voice down as she felt herself losing control of the movement of her body.

"You all good?" Lizzie's voice echoed silently in Hope's ears as she tried to regain her bearings. Hope Mkaelson was used to being in absolute control, no matter her circumstances and this... this was an absolute lack of control. The wind whipped at her hair; tangling and getting into her eyes, but a smile spread across her face as she watched Mystic Falls pass beneath her until she reached the high-school.

The rapid descent was nerve-wracking. The ground rushed up to meet Hope in a near free-fall that took her breath away, but she trusted Lizzie. She landed softly on her feet out by the dumpsters where the stoners usually hung out. Hope also really hoped Lizzie wasn't paying attention to the little happy dance of excitement she was doing before flourishing an emergency magical touch upon her hair. The wind had done some real damage.

"It's all clear if you want to pop on out and talk for a second. I have... five minutes, until I need to meet Ms.Tig." Hope said as she reappeared into the world, and spoke to the empty air. Lizzie reappeared as well, smiling softly, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

"I take it you had fun?" Lizzie asked, almost falling backward when Hope tackled into her arms squeezing her into a hug.

"That was AWESOME," Hope exclaimed in a panting breath. Her breath was warm against the outer cusp of Lizzie's ear and instinctively Lizzie's arms wrapped around Hope's shoulders, even though it had been years since the last time she had truly hugged anyone. Her body seemed to remember how even when her mind was still in complete shock. "Did you feel it? Were you able to fly with me?"

"It was close enough to be wonderful. Thank you, Hope." Lizzie leaned further down into the hug. Now and then she was thrown off by Hope's room-filling presence and forgot just how physically small Hope Mikaelsom was.

"Good. I'm glad I was able to return a piece of what you've been missing." Hope pulled out of the hug. "Can you make yourself visible only to myself and Penelope again? We can trust her. The two of us have been the best of friends since I first started here."

"Already done." Lizzie nodded. She snapped her fingers and nothing appeared to change, though there was a somewhat more ethereal quality to her person.

"Is the snap really necessary or are you just that dramatic?" Hope asked, one eyebrow raised mischievously. Her full lips began to quirk up before the tribrid regained her self control and tempered her expression once more.

"I have to add my special flourish to things or they will get boring, you know?" Lizzie shrugged with a grin and a waggle of her eyebrows. She knew that she was flirting and that she probably shouldn't, but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Hope hip-checked her before readjusting the straps of her backpack and heading on into the school. She wasn't half as anxious walking into Mystic Falls High with Lizzie at her back. Hope was beyond powerful enough to protect herself from a human bully, but her parents had been very clear in their instructions to never ever use any of her supernatural abilities at school. This meant taking everything she was dealt by those who thought themselves better than her on the chin. It was frustrating and oftentimes painful, but Hope could take it. If she couldn't... she had no right to call herself a Mikaelson.

Hope slid into her homeroom seat only seconds before the bell rang, pulling Penelope's hair lightly as she passed her best friend. The other girl looked only slightly surprised to see Lizzie Saltzman trailing behind her. Penelope had not been able to stop thinking about Hope and her demon since the incident in their Latin class, and formulated several of her theories, even without the facts Hope had gotten out of her. Penelope had resolved to keep an even closer eye on the situation before coming to any concrete conclusions.

Watching Hope take shit that she didn't have to was one of Penelope's greatest trials. She wished the other girl would let her help, but was one hundred percent anti-magic at school. Hope was the strongest person Penelope had ever met, and only hoped Lizzie, the beautiful blonde demon girl would recognize and support that in the way Hope deserved. Otherwise, Penelope would fight tooth and nail for her. Someone had to.

Lizzie now floated cross-legged in the air beside Hope's desk, reading over her shoulder, leaning in to comment on something, or picking at her fingernails. Everything about her seemed completely innocent. A wad of paper thrown at the back of Hope's head stopped in midair, course-corrected, and beamed Dana Lilien in the middle of her forehead without Hope ever noticing anything happening. Penelope knew she had done nothing about it herself, and didn't see a visible reaction from anyone else in the room until Lizzie finished whatever she was murmuring to Hope, met her eyes, and winked.