Departure from Mystic Falls

Today is August 14 and it's my birthday. All the main characters of the show are gathered here except vampires. Bonnie came with her grandmother, Elena and Jeremy with their parents, Tyler came with his mother only because his father has things to do in the mayor's office, Vicky and Matt came by themselves, and Caroline came with Elizabeth.

I feel a little sorry when I see Matt and Vicky. I don't even know if their mother is currently home or if they are already abandoned to their fate. Matt never talks of his mother, or at least not to me.

I'm busy with Matt, Tyler and Jeremy playing football. I was a pretty good at that in my other life, but not to the point of joining a team, let alone the team at my university full of players who had been good enough to get scholarships.

"So, what did you had to stay locked up in your room that long?" Tyler throws me the ball. I have to stretch my entire body to catch it.

"I hit my head against a beam, and I got a concussion. I couldn't stand the light or loud noises anymore." This is the official version that my parents told their parents to explain why I wasn't going out anymore. I throw the ball back at Jeremy.

"It sucks. We just went swimming in the river near Tyler's house the other day. We caught a huge toad and chased the girls with it." I laugh imagining Caroline screaming to death while being chased by a big frog.

"I'm going to go get a drink. Anybody want anything?"

"No, I'm good." Jeremy throws the ball to Tyler, who sends it directly to Matt

"No need here either."

I shrug my shoulders and go take a drink on the table full of snacks and drinks right in front of the back door of the house. As I'm pouring myself a glass of juice, I hear a voice in my back.

"Sean, can I talk to you for a second?" Sheila Bennet is standing behind me. Her face is calm, but without an ounce of warm.

"Yes, of course. What's going on?"

"What is your connection to Death?" The question strikes me hard. I know witches are very intuitive, but I didn't think they were that intuitive. Or did the dead witches tell her? "Given your reaction, you know what I'm talking about."

"Let's go somewhere more discreet." I take her behind the greenhouse where my mother grows her magic plants. I don't think anyone here should hear us talking. "Who told you about Death?"

"Wiccans knows more than what the wizards thinks. There is a rumor that a wizard child was born bearing the mark of Death. When I learned that it was you, I was quite surprised. Hence my question, what is your connection with Death?"

"I'll be pretty clear, don't think that because I look young, I'm going to be intimidated. What happens between Death and me is not of your concern." There is no reason to play dumb. In any case, she knows that I have a relationship with death, might as well keep some cards in my hands and not reveal to her the extent of my powers that are not yet as great as I would like.

"Everything that Death does in our world concerns us, the Wiccans. He is at the source of most of the imbalances in the natural forces which makes us fear each of his interventions. If you know what the next big upheaval is going to be, you have to tell me so we can stop it."

"I assure you, my relationship with death has nothing to do with this. From what I know death will in no way affect the world again." It's not a lie, I don't know what his exact purpose is or what he's going to do next.

"Well, then, where do you get that mark?"

"No comment." I turn around and leave the old witch behind, or I should call her Wiccan, since that's what she called herself.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Sean."

This old hag has just ruined my good mood. This day had started so well but she thinks I have to explain myself to her now.

"Hey, Sean, we were looking for you. Your mom says it's time to cut the cake!" Caroline appears in my back like a jumping elf. She grabs me by the hand and pulls me towards the table where my mother just laid a big chocolate cake. When I arrive, everyone starts singing. I've always found birthday songs embarrassing, but I find it even more embarrassing now that I'm a kid again. At the end of their song, I take a deep breath and blow out my candles.

"Happy Birthday Sean"

"Thank you, everyone."

The cake is pretty good, I really like the dark chocolate icing and the strawberry pieces inside. The kids at my table seem to love cake, too.

I notice that Elena is sitting next to me innocently eating her cake.

"Wait, you got something on your nose." I swipe a finger through the frosting on my cake and make a chocolate stain on her nose.

She starts to pout when she realizes that I just put chocolate on her face. "Sean, that's not funny!" Um, just wait till you grow up a few years. I bet I can find a few ways to make it funnier.

"A little bit." I really like the look on her face, it reminds me of when I used to bother my sister when we were little. I feel a little nostalgic all of a sudden.

As I prepare to wipe the chocolate stain off Elena's face, my mother draws our attention.

"Excuse me, I have something to tell you." She clears her throat a bit. " Sean was accepted into a large private school in London and will begin his schooling there in boarding school." The adults applaud, but the children look at me with bewilderment, I had not yet the opportunity to tell them that since this is the first time I have seen them since I received the letter. "As I felt a little uncomfortable letting him go this far alone, Arthur and I decided that we would go back to England at least until Sean finished his studies. I'm a little sad to announce it to you all of a sudden, but we're leaving town tomorrow morning."

A long silence greets her remark, but the adults recover quickly, this is not the case for girls. Caroline throws herself at me to hug me.

"Sean, don't leave. We would be far too sad if you left."

"I have to. It's a private school that my family has been going to for generations." She starts to cry and she is quickly joined by Elena and Bonnie. "Hey, it's not worth crying about, we'll see each other again. My parents are going to keep the house and we'll come back for the holidays." I'm trying to be as calming as possible.

"You promise?"

"Only if you stop soaking my shirt with snot"

The girls hold me in their arms for a few more minutes before they let go. After the cake, we take back our football game with the boys. When evening arrives, the guests leave. The last ones to leave are Matt and Vicky.

"It's really sad that you have to leave, but I guess it's a good thing you're going to a big school." He hugs me. "Don't forget to write to us, okay?"

"Please don't cry, I would be embarrassed." I manage to pull out a big smile as he leaves the house. " See you next time, Matt." I close the door behind them.

The next day, after having taken with us all that has to do with the wizarding world, we arrive at the ministry of magic in London. Aunt Amelia and Susan are waiting for us in the large hall where the fountains we see in the movies is located.

"You're right on time, Arthur, I was worried for a while that you might have changed your mind and stayed there."

"I'm glad to see you too, Amelia. How are things in the ministry?"

"Pretty good, I'm almost about to convince Fudge to increase the number of searches among wizards suspected of possessing prohibited artifacts."

I'm thinking about all the necromancy books that were in our library. Aren't we in trouble?

"What about my former job? Is it possible to have it back?"

"You start tomorrow. I assigned one of my oldest auror to a desk job for the few years before his retirement. At first, I wanted to put Alastor Moody on the sidelines, but this old lunatic is still far too influential in the aurors."

"Are you going to work as an auror?" It's true that I did not imagine my father going back to his old job. He used to work in an office.

"Yeah, it was my job before your mom and I decided to leave. It was a much more dangerous job during that time, but the situation is much safer now. Your old father fears no one, … Except your mom"

If only he knew that the time is not as calm as he thinks. It will be up to me to make sure that nothing happens that requires his intervention.

We go to the floo network room and head to the Bones family mansion.

We arrive in a living room richly decorated in a very old style. A wall library decorates the back wall while a piano sits quietly in a corner of the room. It starts to play a sweet melody when we arrive.

"Susan, show Sean his room. He's going to stay in the room in front of yours." Susan nods and beckon me to follow her. We climb the solid wood staircase to the first floor. The walls are covered with old portraits of family members. Their names and the period they lived are written on a small metal plaque screwed on the bottom of the wooden frame.

"Are these ...?"

"Our ancestors. When we reach adulthood, every member of the family gets one to decorate the walls of the mansion."

"I was going to ask if they could speak."

"No, Aunt Amelia says it's because there's no point in bringing the old memory to life. It's better to let them go after a while."

I'm not unhappy that these are normal paintings. It would quickly become awkward to be judged by paintings of people dead for centuries. Susan guides me to a room at the end of the corridor. She opens the door and lets me contemplate my new room. It is rather old with the thick old sheets, the bedside lamp with the lampshade in lace, or the old wardrobe in solid oak. However, I note that the cleaning has just been done because there is not a single speck of dust in the room. Probably the work of the house-elves. I have never seen one until now, except Dobby in the movies.

"It was Uncle Edgard's room, I think. The decoration is a little dated, but we can go and see some new furniture later"

It's not really my style, I prefer more modern things, but I guess I'll have to deal with it for now.