'malivore'

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"So, are you going to ask her about that kiss or are you just going to pretend it never happened?" Hope asked lowly into Georgie's ear as they both watched Alaric prepare to start another assembly in the Grand Hall.  Georgie nudged her sharply in the side, causing the tribrid to snigger slightly as she smirked at her roommate getting all red in the face as she reminded her of the moment that she had witnessed between them.

"Shut up, Mikaelson," Georgie snarled, but there was no malice behind her words. With a heavy eye roll, she turned her attention back to the oldest Saltzman while being completely oblivious to the eyes of the darkest haired Saltzman resting on the side of her head.

"Given recent events, some students have expressed concern that I am not allowing you to have a say in the decisions that affect your future..." Alaric announced, starting their assembly with a much different topic than Hope or Georgie had predicted that morning. Georgie looked down the row to her left, noticing how his eyes flickered to Josie and Lizzie who were smiling in surprise at him. Hope followed her line of sight, knowing that he must have been talked over by the twins. "And I agree. If you are expected to abide by this school's policies, it's only fair that you have a voice in how those rules are made."

Hope and Georgie both snickered under their breath as they watched the twins exchange a low-five, sharing a knowing look as their joint suspicion was confirmed from the small action between the siphoners. Georgie looked back up to the podium, her eyes narrowing slightly as she noticed Matt Donovan was also standing to the side of the room - which was especially unnerving since he hadn't seemed to have taken his glance off of her the entire time.

"So, I am forming an honour council. One vampire, one witch, and one werewolf—each elected by their peers, along with Emma, whose vote will represent the younger students," Alaric announced, causing chatter to spread across the student body instantly. Georgie didn't have much interest in that, knowing that she didn't exactly confirm to any of the three main factions but also not particularly thinking her view was that important to the rest of the student body either. "Now, I have to go off-campus. In the meantime, I expect you to make good decisions and to vote wisely. That's all. You're dismissed."

Georgie almost groaned in protest as Hope grabbed her wrist as everyone began to go back with their day, having just even informed that she was going to be running testing spells on Landon Kirby to find out if he actually was supernatural or not. The Lockwood girl knew she wasn't able to help, since Emma had already told her earlier on that the spells required a witch's powers - which was the one thing Georgie lacked.

Hope continued to drag Georgie outside, not noticing how Sheriff Donovan was sighing and following them out to the lawn. Hope raised her hand in annoyance as she pulled them closer where Alaric was clearly trying to leave the school, causing the SUV door to slam shut as he let out a dry chuckle before turning to see who was trying to stop him now.

"Am I under assault today?"

"You get to interrogate a tree nymph, and I have to run Landon's 23andMe?" Hope said, not sharing his amusement at the situation he was in. He briefly looked to Georgie who had clearly not wanted to be brought into this conversation but chose not to mention why Matt was hovering around behind the girls just yet.

"First of all, it's a dryad, not a tree nymph. Second of all, I need a witch to run the testing spells," Alaric said, knowing exactly what Hope was about to counter with. "And no, Emma can't do it. She can supervise, but she's busy managing the school in my I'm sure unbearable absence. Plus, if Landon can convince you that he belongs, he can convince anybody."

Georgie sniggered at this, causing Hope to elbow her in the ribs just like she had done minutes prior during their assembly. The hybrid tried to hide her grin but only found it growing wider as Alaric also smirked in amusement at Hope's anger.

"You're enjoying this," Hope accused them both but mostly the grown man. She was now aware that Matt had joined the group as he came to stand beside Alaric and she sent him a small side glance before turning back to the headmaster.

"I am," Alaric admitted before he looked between the girls. "Hope, I left you instructions in my office, try not to kill him."

Georgie laughed again as Hope scowled wider but her smile quickly faded once the tribrid rounded on her with a smug smile on her face too. Hope crossed her arms with a slight bounce before grinning at her roommate and making Georgie instantly feel nervous.

"You can help me, Georgie," the Mikaelson legacy announced, smirking as she saw Georgie slump in defeat. It was no secret that the Lockwood felt uncomfortable around Landon since she'd barely spent any time with the boy and she didn't exactly have the best track record with his adoptive brother either.

"Actually, Georgie is heading out of campus today too," Alaric interrupted as the duo turned around in surprise to see the man was motioning to Sheriff Donovan. The man smiled softly at the girls before turning to mostly face Georgie and direct his attention to his old best friend's mysterious daughter.

"I want to show you around Mystic Falls," Matt admitted, feeling like he owed it to his best friend to act as a positive influence in the teenage girl's life. "Alaric suggested I show you the Lockwood Manor and a few other places you'd maybe be interested in the history of."

Hope groaned in annoyance, storming off as the three laughed slightly at her antics. She certainly had been left with the most boring job of them all but they would soon find out that she was probably going to experience the least action-packed day of them all. That honour was about to be reserved for the Sheriff of Mystic Falls and one young hybrid.

________

"So, you knew my dad?" Georgie asked Matt as they walked through the square of Mystic Falls, her eyes looking up at the bell tower that she knew would have seen its fair share of action during its lifetime. She knew the answer obviously, but she was desperate to just get to hear about what he was like before he was just her father and a widow.

Matt laughed slightly, knowing that Georgie didn't quite realise the weight of the question that she had just asked. While Matt had been a pretty bad one sometimes in return, Tyler had been his best friend for his entire teenage years. In fact, Tyler's death was one of the reasons he would always be hesitant to be around vampires since he knew how easily they could turn on their friends.

"We were best friends," Matt reminded her, knowing that Georgie was already aware of that. "Like you and Hope are becoming."

Georgie rolled her eyes slightly at the man, knowing that this was the Sheriff's way of trying to hear more about her life. She guessed that it was a way to try and process the sudden shock of his best friend having had a child and hiding her entire existence from him - especially since Tyler didn't even leave her in custody of him or any of their friends. He hadn't trusted them enough to leave his everything with them and Matt would be lying if he said that didn't rip him to pieces inside.

"So did you know Hope's dad too?" Georgie asked, opening up a whole new can of worms with that question. Matt stiffened for a slight second before looking back at the teenager who was drinking the smoothie with wide curious eyes as she tried to learn more about her dad's past. He knew that Hope wasn't responsible for her father's actions but it was hard for the Donovan to not be highly aware of the destruction that anyone of Mikaelson blood was capable of.

"You could say that," Matt muttered as he sent Georgie a forced smile. "The Mikaelson hybrids certainly caused a big stir when they arrived in Mystic Falls for the first time. But I don't want to go into all that, it's in the past."

Georgie nodded, barely taking in his words as her eyes latched on to a window across the road. Elena Gilbert M.D. She knew that name too, just as she seemed to know every name in this stupid town. She'd even heard Josie and Lizzie talk about their aunt Elena and her husband - not that anyone had admitted to her who the man was despite her knowing exactly who he was and what he had done. He had ruined her life.

Matt caught sight of her eye line and knew it was time to change the topic. He had met Damon various times since Elena was brought back to life but that didn't make him able to forgive the man for the things he had done. The last thing he wanted was the little Lockwood to lose control and rip the town apart before they had even finished their tour of Mystic Falls.

Just as he went to open his mouth, Georgie's ears picked up a small bell ringing from the door of the office. Turning back around to look at the building she had just been staring at, a woman with glossy brown hair smiled as she exited the building, the tall dark haired man beside her grinning back down at her as he wrapped an around around her shoulders while she locked the door up. 

It didn't take a genius to figure out who they were. Georgie noticed the sudden tension in Matt's body as he looked over at the duo and back to Georgie with a slight panic in his eyes. Unfortunately for the sheriff, the duo noticed the man and started moving over to him with bright smiles on their faces - even if Damon did hang back slightly knowing his bad history with the man. Human Damon was much less willing to start a fight with the Donovan than his vampire self had been in the past. He was living his ideal life with Elena and he never wanted that to change.

"Hey Matt," Elena breathed as she pulled him into a hug, a grin on her face as she looked at her childhood best friend. He didn't want much to do with their old friend group but he would always make an exception for the girl - especially after she was brought back out of her coma and reunited with them all. "Who is this?"

As soon as Elena asked the question, Matt knew that this was either going to end up a lot better than expected or very tragic. Damon paused for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the girl as she turned around, her eyes shining a bright yellow and her fists clenched in anger. She was clearly just a teenager but the glowing eyes and fangs that were poking from her lip told  him one thing - she was a wolf. Had it only been the eyes, he would have just assumed that but the half transformation in the face told him and Elena something even worse - she was a hybrid wolf.

Elena took a step backwards as her smile immediately dropped, while Matt placed his hand over the gun that rested in his holster. He didn't want to shoot the girl, but if that's what he needed to do to stop her from killing Elena and Damon then that's what he would have to do. They were humans after all now, and his alliance was to protecting the humans of Mystic Falls from harm.

Before anyone could say another word, a large wolf had replaced the girl's position in less than a blink of an eye. Damon reacted quickly and pushed Elena behind him while Matt grappled with the gun in his holster with no hesitation. He didn't want to shoot her - not that it would do much - but he knew that they needed to stall her to get supernatural help here quickly.

The wolf snarled, but paused as it seemed to reconsider what it was doing. By the time Matt had even clicked the safety off his gun, the wolf had fled the square leaving the three shocked and a little confused at what had just happened.

"Who the hell was that?" Elena asked, but Damon knew the answer from the previous catchups he had previously had with Alaric.

"Georgie Lockwood. And I think she knows I'm the reason her dad is dead."

_________

"You caused quite the drama today, I heard," Hope told Georgie as she entered their room to find the hybrid lying in her bed, her hair tangled and wet from the shower that she had just had to try and calm herself down. "Big bad Lockwolf on the run."

Georgie rolled her eyes at the nickname, not liking the sound of the pun at all. "Never call me that again, Mikaelson. Besides, I thought you'd be proud: I didn't kill anyone even though I really wanted to."

They remained in silence as Hope watched Georgie sigh before patting the space beside her on the bed, signalling to Hope to join her on the soft quilt blanket that Josie and Lizzie had gifted her after they heard she'd once ruined her old one by half shifting during a night terror and raking it with her nails. Hope padded across the dimly lit room and lay down beside her friend, waiting patiently for her to speak.

"Can you do that thing... with the stars?" Georgie asked gently, her voice a lot softer than before as she looked to her left at Hope. The girl smiled gently before nodding, raising her hand and muttering an incantation under her breath as they both looked up at the ceiling of their shared room to see little stars projected like a supernatural nightlight.

They remained in silence while Georgie studied the fake stars with a small smile on her face. That was the one thing she hated about the school - that there was no perfect spot to get a clear view of the stars. Too many trees and lights that were always on ruined it but in here, with Hope's magic? It was the perfect calming tool.

"Why didn't you do it?" Hope gently asked, wanting to know where Georgie's head space was at. She had been so willing to kill Landon Kirby only a few weeks ago, but here was Georgie faced with the person who had taken everything from her and the girl hadn't even seemingly attempted to harm them.

"Honestly? I knew if I did then I'd have to leave here."

Of everything that the hybrid could have said, Hope really didn't think it was going to be that. The Mikaelson titled her head to the right, looking at Georgie who was looking a lot more at peace as she watching the little stars glimmer and twinkle above them.

"I've never had a proper home that I can remember," Georgie admitted as she absent-mindedly fiddled with her wolf charm bracelet around her wrist. Hope had noticed the bracelet a few times and was aware that it was magic since it never broke when Georgie shifted and it wasn't visible then either - almost like it was a part of her skin. "This, with out a doubt, this feels like home. I wanted to kill him, I really did. But then I thought of Josie and you and Lizzie and even Penelope for god sake, and I knew I didn't want to do a thing that would take it away from me."

Hope reached over at that point, grabbing Georgie's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze of comfort. She knew that the hybrid had been going through a lot but she was so proud of how she was growing since they had first met. The girl was also teaching her how to open up too - since she had just got back from having kissed Landon Kirby too.

"What were your parents like?" Georgie asked suddenly, her voice gentle again as if she had a lot on her mind. Hope paused like a deer in headlights - no one ever really having had the guts to talk to her about her parents before without giving her prewarning.

Memories of her time with Hayley and Klaus flashed through her head, with the occasional glimmer of Elijah and Rebekah and Marcel and Kol and Freya all bundling up too. She sometimes forgot how large her extended family was, but she was never prouder of her family than she was now.

"My mother was beautiful," Hope spoke after a moment of silence, during which Georgie had wondered if she would ever speak at all. "She was brave and fearless and caring. My dad? He was rough - sometimes cruel to others but never to me. He was broken but I think in the end our family had put him back together again. He'd lost a lot too, but our family was always there to get him through it."

"Was your mother the other Mikaelson hybrid?"

Hope furrowed her eyebrows at this, sitting up now and looking at Georgie in complete confusion. She had an idea that she knew what Georgie was talking about but she wasn't sure how the girl suddenly knew a lot about her family history.

"No, but my father had a sister that died just after I was born that I never met who was a hybrid too," Hope admitted, falling back on the pillows as she looked over at Georgie still. "How did you know that? She's not really mentioned in the history books and I never told you."

"Sheriff Donovan mentioned the 'Mikaelson hybrids' earlier and I didn't even think about it until now - I had just assumed he meant your mother," Georgie admitted before looking at Hope too. "Sorry if I crossed a line there."

Hope shook her head with a small smile as she realised how nice it felt to just talk about her family without wanting to scream or cry or break something. She knew that her Aunt Rebekah was still alive as was some of her other family, but she saw them so rarely that it sometimes felt like she had no one at all.

"What about your mom? Was she a hybrid?" Hope asked, not having ever really talked that much about Georgie's mom.

"She was, but that's all I know about her. I don't even remember what she looks like. She died when I was born."

"I'm sorry," Hope murmured, but the Lockwood shook her head. They both knew it wasn't Hope's fault - it was in the past and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Do you think we'll be okay?" Georgie asked after a moment of silence, knowing that the question was ridiculously loaded. While it was vague, Hope knew exactly what she was talking about. They had both been through so much in such a short period of time - and there was so much more still to come.

"Yeah, George, I think we will be."