The previous season of "The Vampire Diaries" saw Mama Salvatore reconnecting with Enzo, who helped her to free her family -- the Heretics -- from the prison world.

The upcoming season will explore more of Enzo and Lily's bond, as she and her heretic children set up base in Mystic Falls. Season 7 will also see Enzo falling in love, and speculations are rife that it could be with Mama Salvatore.

If this rumour turns out to be true, then Enzo's new relationship is sure to create a divide between Enzo and Damon, and Lily and her children.

"[Stefan and Damon] feel like [Lily] has this whole other family," executive producer Caroline Dries explained to Seat42F. "Because Enzo is like a free-agent and Lily's got her heretic family, and they're like: 'What's going on here?' There's a real 'us vs. them' mentality and the Heretics are the bad guys - and Lily and Enzo are friends with the bad guys."

Elaborating on how Enzo's association with the Heretics will strain his relationship with Damon, Dries noted that the season will be rocky for Damon and Enzo.

"They have had a really deep past where they have gone through some real dramatic experiences…this season they will have scenes where they'll be like: 'Hey, what's going on?' or 'Dude, what's up with you?' Twenty-two episodes is a lot, so there is time for them to come back as friends. But they are going to start off a little friction-filled moving forward," Dries noted.

"The Vampire Diaries" season 7 will premiere on 8 October with the episode "22,190 Days." The season will begin with a time-jump that will see some characters still trying to move on in the wake of Elena Gilbert's departure. Two characters who are yet to recover from the events of the season 6 finale are Damon and Alaric, whose wife was killed by her twin brother Kai in the season finale.