Author's Note:
Hello! This is the first chapter of my very first Fanfiction, and I'm quite excited about it. It's still a work in progress and will probably be changed around and edited many times but for now I'm going to post it as it is before I lose my nerve. I've always wanted to write a Fanfic, particularly a Twilight/Harry Potter crossover like this one but to be honest I've never really been confident enough. I hope you all like it, and I would really appreciate any feedback!
Disclaimer: I don't own either Harry Potter or Twilight, unfortunately.
Chapter One
At exactly 1:00am on a cold Friday morning, on the outskirts of a small town in Northern Alaska, two people appeared with a loud crack just outside the Cullen family home. None of the Cullens, of course, were asleep at this moment like the rest of the people living in the town – they heard the crack as clear as anything, each of them only taking half a second to consider all the possibilities of why the noise was there and where it came from. Alice Cullen thought it might have been a whip, although the reasons why a whip would be cracking in the middle of the night outside their home was a mystery. She heard shuffling and quiet voices, and realising there were humans close by, scolded herself for not paying better attention. She usually watched the house very carefully for stray humans coming too close, or God forbid, other vampires, but for some reason this had slipped through the cracks. She glanced at her mate Jasper beside her with an apologetic look, who had stiffened up in preparation for the scent that would soon reach him and assault his throat and his mind.
"I'm sorry," Alice whispered. "I didn't see them."
"It's okay," He replied gruffly. "I'll try and stay away."
Carlisle Cullen was in his office reading when he heard the crack. He glanced up towards the sound in confusion, then when he heard the familiar sounds of humans outside, stood up and moved into the living room. Esme and Rosalie had paused their conversation and were staring at Carlisle, a bewildered look in their eyes. He could see the slight worry in Esme's – not for her safety, but for the safety of the humans outside. Carlisle knew Jasper may not be able to handle having the scent of two humans in such close proximity, and it was typical and also quite endearing of Esme to think of their wellbeing first, before anything. He smiled slightly at his wife, showing her without words that he was going to handle it, he would make sure the humans stayed safe.
"What was that?!" Emmett boomed from his and Rosalie's bedroom. "Why are there humans outside? It's the middle of the night, I thought they slept!"
"I'll go check, Emmett. They've most likely just gotten lost." Carlisle replied, walking towards the front door. "It's not too far from town. Perhaps I could give them a lift back."
Edward Cullen opened his eyes to the sound of the crack outside. The glowing clock on the bookshelf told him he had been sitting there, eyes closed and blocking out the world around him, for almost thirteen hours. Esme's probably worried, He thought, but it didn't make him feel much. Before… her, his mother's approval and happiness was quite important to him, and he would always make an effort to not worry her or cause her stress, but nowadays he just didn't care. His own guilt and self-loathing overpowered anything else he might have felt before. He preferred to just be alone with his thoughts. It was the least of what he deserved.
The noise was slightly interesting, however. He knew Alice would probably already know what it was and would've informed Carlisle hours beforehand, but it didn't fascinate him enough to go downstairs and find out. He heard Emmett yell out, as loud as ever, and almost felt amused. He closed his eyes again.
"Are you sure this is the right house Dedalus?" Hestia Jones stared up at the two-storey residence, a slight frown on her face.
"I'm quite sure, Hestia. This is the address that Kingsley gave me." Dedalus Diggle shivered, the freezing Alaskan winds making his skin cold even in his thickest robes, and pulled out his wand, muttering a warmth spell around him and Hestia.
Hestia smiled in relief. "It just doesn't really look like a place where vampires would live. I mean, I didn't expect something so… modern."
"What were you expecting? A cave perhaps?" They both chuckled, grateful suddenly to have something to laugh about even if the joke wasn't really funny. It had been very sombre in the wizarding world for a while now. It was hard to find things to laugh about.
A booming voice echoed from the house, and the two wizards watched as the front door opened, flooding the steps with light.
The first thing Carlisle noticed about the humans standing in front of him was the way they were dressed. Carlisle usually didn't pay any attention to fashion – he only ever really went to work, where a dress code was decided for him, and wore what he was comfortable in at home. He knew enough about modern fashion, however, to realise that these people were abnormal when it came to their clothing choices. They both wore long, dark robes down to their ankles and pointed hats, almost like witches hats. The woman looked like she was in her late twenties or early thirties, pale and slim with thick dark hair. The man beside her was much older, his curly grey hair pointing in all directions under his hat. An old book lay on the wet and dirty ground at their feet. They both smiled at Carlisle as he opened the door, and he took a moment to observe what an unusual couple they were. He had a feeling they weren't like normal humans at all.
"Hello," Carlisle greeted them in his kindest voice. He didn't want them to be frightened by him. Sometimes humans could just sense, subconsciously, that his kind were something to be afraid of, no matter how beautiful or welcoming they looked. "Are you lost?"
"No, actually." The woman stepped forward, holding out her hand. "I'm Hestia Jones. This is Dedalus Diggle," She said, gesturing to the man behind her, who grinned wider and nodded in his direction. "You must be Carlisle."
Carlisle frowned, taken aback. "Yes, I am. I don't want to sound rude but… how do you know my name? Who are you?"
The woman – Hestia – looked uncertainly at Dedalus, who nodded.
"May we come in? We have some things to discuss."
Carlisle, against his better judgement, let them inside. He was curious as to who they were and what they wanted. Perhaps they're patients of mine. That would explain how they know my name, he considered, but he couldn't remember ever meeting anyone like them before. Carlisle knew it would look suspicious that all the lights in the house were on, and every member of his family – minus Edward – were wide awake and walking around at one in the morning, but he wasn't sure what else he could do. It wouldn't be fair to leave the humans stranded outside his house in the cold, with apparently no means of getting back into town (he couldn't see a car, or bikes, or any tire tracks, or anything). He decided perhaps he could pretend they were celebrating something, and lost track of time. That seemed fairly normal. He knew of lots of humans who had parties, or even just talked, until the very early hours of the morning, sometimes even all night. He pretended to yawn as he walked with them, hoping he was convincing.
Esme threw Carlisle a confused glance as Dedalus and Hestia walked into the living room, both of them seemingly impressed by their surroundings. Dedalus nudged Hestia and pointed to the television and her eyes widened, and she grinned at the older man. Carlisle didn't understand what was going on, or what the two humans were communicating to each other, but in that moment he desperately wished Edward were there, to tell him what they were thinking. Carlisle had always known that Edward's gift was very special, but he had to admit that he had gotten accustomed to it – he was not used to having to guess what others were thinking about, he had always had Edward there. Now that his son was… in the state he was in, Carlisle realised how much he had taken Edward's presence and help for granted. He had recently started to pray, to a God he didn't even believe in, that Edward would get better again but he knew that was probably impossible without Bella.
Dedalus's voice threw Carlisle's attention away from his thoughts.
"Lovely place you have here."
Hestia nodded with enthusiasm, agreeing. She smiled at Esme and Rosalie, the second of whom frowned.
"Who are you?" Rosalie snapped, but Carlisle could see that past her angry exterior she was just as curious as himself.
"You must be Rosalie. I'm Dedalus and this is Hestia - we're members of the Order of the Phoenix, we've been sent here to speak to you all tonight." Dedalus told Rosalie, almost as if it should've been obvious.
"And what in the world is the Order of the Phoenix?" Alice's melodic voice sounded frustrated. She walked into the room at a slow pace, her arms crossed, and stared at the humans, almost intimidatingly. Carlisle knew she probably wasn't trying to scare them on purpose, but from his knowledge Alice hadn't had any visions about Dedalus and Hestia's arrival, and she was just as confused as the rest of them. This was unusual for Alice – she normally saw almost everything.
Dedalus hesitated, looking as Hestia for conformation. She brought out a small piece of paper from under her thick robes, and scanned the page with her eyes.
"Is this everybody?" She frowned at the page, then looked up to meet Carlisle's eyes. 'Our instructions say that there's seven of you."
All the Cullens in the room looked slightly unsettled at the fact that the two people seemed to know who they were, but Carlisle complied. "Emmett, Jasper! We have visitors!" He called, and a few seconds later both his sons appeared behind Alice, having taken their time arriving as to not make the humans suspicious. Carlisle could tell that Jasper was not breathing as he walked up to stand beside Alice, and Emmett bounded past him to join Rosalie on the couch.
"I'm afraid Edward is unavailable at the moment…" Carlisle began to tell Hestia, but she interrupted him.
"Please Carlisle, we need him here too."
"Excuse me?" Rosalie spat at Hestia, even though Hestia's statement hadn't been directed at her. "Who do you think you are, coming into our home in the middle of the night like this, demanding we all listen to you? He said Edward wasn't available, so he isn't available!" Emmett frowned and put his arm around his wife in an attempt to calm her down, but she pushed him off.
"This is important," Hestia insisted. Carlisle was quite impressed at how calm she was, and how she didn't even flinch at Rosalie's harsh tone. "We will explain everything as soon as everyone is here to listen to it. Please, Carlisle," She said again, almost pleading. "Could you go get him?"
Carlisle hesitated, unsure whether it was the right thing to do or not. He didn't even know who these people were, or why they were in his home. Before he could make a decision, however, he heard a quiet voice behind him.
"It's okay Carlisle."
Esme gasped as Edward walked into the room, his eyes pitch black and sunken from lack of hunting, wearing the same clothing Carlisle had seen him in two days ago. Carlisle couldn't find the words to describe how much it hurt him to see the defeated look in Edward's eyes or the slow and dragging movements of his limbs, so unlike a vampire, so unlike Edward before… the incident with Bella. Edward seemed to understand though, through Carlisle's thoughts, and he avoided his father's gaze. He was ashamed. Jasper sent a strong wave of calm through the room, for which both men were grateful.
Trying to avoid looking at any of the members of his family, Edward sat down and tried to focus his attention on the two humans in the room. For the first time in months, a tinge of curiosity numbed the pain slightly, which turned into frustration as he realised he couldn't hear what they were thinking. He winced as the memories came back to him. Lying in the meadow, sitting beside her in the car, perched in the rocking chair in the corner of her room, forever wondering how she was feeling, what she wanted, what she was dreaming about. He had never come across anybody else who he couldn't read, apart from… apart from Bella. It was strange. What was different about these humans?
What did they have in common with Bella?
The woman, whom Edward had heard introducing herself as Hestia before, spoke first.
"Thank you for joining us Edward. I'm really sorry if our visit is an inconvenience, I know that normally people don't like being surprised in the middle of the night but this is a matter of grave importance."
"Hurry it up," Rosalie snapped, becoming impatient. Esme frowned at her, upset that her daughter was being rude to their visitors.
Hestia continued without even blinking. "Of course. Dedalus and I have travelled from England to speak to you all, under orders from Bella Swan herself. I'm afraid that you are all in danger, and will need to be moved to a safehouse immediately-"
"You know Bella?! Where is she? Is she okay?" Edward exploded, leaping out of his seat. His mind didn't register anything else that Hestia had been saying. These people knew Bella. She had spoken to them about… him. That was all he wanted to know. He stared at Hestia intently, desperate to break the wall and read her thoughts. Jasper tried sending out another wave of calm, but Edward ignored it with a growl.
"Yes, we know Bella." The man, Dedalus, said. "And yes, she's okay at the moment. Please, just let us explain."
"Sit down, Edward." Carlisle spoke quietly from behind him. "They said we're in danger, we need to hear what they have to say."
Edward sat, ashamed of himself. Carlisle was right, this wasn't the time to be thinking about his own needs.
"Sorry, Hestia. Please continue." He mumbled. "Why are we in danger?"
"Bella informed us that none of you are aware of her life in England, is that correct?"
The confused looks of each Cullen family member answered the question for her.
"Okay. I suppose I'll have to explain some things to you then. How long is it until we're expected at Bill and Fleur's, Dedalus?" She asked the man beside her.
"Bill said any time before sunrise. He doesn't want unwanted attention."
"Excellent. That gives us plenty of time. Kingsley said we might have to do this anyway." Hestia nodded. She turned back to face the Cullens.
"First of all, I want you to all know that we are aware you're vampires. We've both grown up in a world where the existence of vampires, werewolves and other non-humans are common knowledge. We aren't exactly like other humans either, we… have some special abilities. Bella has them too."
To everybody apart from Edward, the silence was deafening. Edward grimaced as his mind was assaulted by the yelling thoughts of his family: 'What does she mean?!' 'What world is she talking about?!' 'Why didn't Bella tell us?' 'Did she know we were vampires from the start?!'
"Quiet!" He hissed under his breath, trying to get his own thoughts under control.
'What special abilities?'
'Why did she hide this?!'
'Why didn't Bella tell us?'
Why didn't Bella tell him?
"What special abilities?" Edward asked Hestia slowly. Once he found out what the woman was talking about, maybe he could start to understand.
"Magical abilities. We can all perform magic."
"Magic?" Edward and Carlisle spoke at the same time, their voices disbelieving. This woman is crazy, Edward decided. But how does she know Bella?
The thoughts of his father backed his theory up. In my hundreds and hundreds of years on this Earth, I have never once even heard of the existence of magic, Carlisle considered slowly. Of course, there were the witch-burnings, but it has been made clear that those women were innocent of any form of witchcraft. I don't understand why she is saying these things, Edward.
Hestia seemed to understand what they were thinking, as she raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly, before saying: "I can prove it to you."
Edward's eyes widened as she pulled out a wooden, polished stick from under her cloak. Before he could react, she pointed the stick at the empty rocking chair in the corner.
"Incendio!" She said.
The chair caught on fire.
The screams of his family members barely registered in Edward's mind as he watched the chair burn. How… He knew the chair had caught on fire, but he just didn't understand what had happened. His brain refused to accept it. It went against everything he knew, everything he had ever been taught. You couldn't just set something on fire with one word and a wave of a stick, it was impossible. But it had happened, right in front of his eyes.
Hestia said something else he wasn't listening to, and the flames went out. Alice, who had jumped straight off the sofa when the chair caught fire in a very ungraceful moment that was very unlike Alice, sped over and inspected the chair. From where Edward was standing, he could see that the chair was practically as good as new – like the fire had never even been there – but he didn't blame Alice for wanting to get closer and reaffirm. She turned back to look at Edward, her eyes confirming it was true. The chair caught on fire. The chair caught on fire, and she didn't even do anything. The chair caught on fire and it's undamaged.
"How did you do that?" Edward choked, staring at Hestia and then back at the chair again.
"Magic." It was Dedalus who spoke this time, with a hint of amusement in his rough voice.
"No, I meant… how are you… magical?" Edward didn't sound like himself. He cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed.
"Oh. It's something we're born with," Dedalus replied. "It's generally hereditary, although there are plenty of cases where a witch or wizard is born into a non-magical family. Usually a witch or wizard starts showing magical ability when they're young, and if their powers are strong enough, they will receive an invitation to the closest magical school so they can learn how to control their powers and use them for good. Hestia and I, we both went to Hogwarts." Dedalus grinned proudly, catching Hestia's eye.
"You said Bella is magical too?" Alice piped up, her eyes wide. In her head, she was furiously examining memories of Bella from their time in Forks, attempting to find some sort of evidence to this fact.
"Yes. In fact, Bella is very… famous in the magical community." Hestia and Dedalus's faces darkened as she said this.
Edward couldn't speak. He tried to will Hestia with his eyes to continue talking, to tell him about Bella, and she seemed to understand.
"When Bella was a baby, her family was attacked in their own home by a very dark wizard. He had been causing destruction and terror for years before this – even speaking his name could terrify the average witch or wizard and even though we had so many people on our side, he was so powerful that we were losing the war against him. There was a group created – The Order of the Phoenix – dedicated to eradicating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers, but we were struggling. We didn't know what to do or who to trust. Both Dedalus and I were members of this group, and so were Bella's parents, James and Lily Potter."
"Bella's parents had a secret-keeper in place to protect their whereabouts, but he betrayed them to You-Know-Who and they were attacked in their home on Halloween, when Bella was just one year old. James Potter was killed and Lily barricaded herself and Bella in a room upstairs in an attempt to hide from the dark wizard. Unfortunately…" Hestia paused and took a breath, tears welling in her eyes. "You-Know-Who was too powerful and he broke in, killing Bella's mother when she refused to move out of his way."
"What happened to Bella? Why did he spare her?" Carlisle asked.
"You-Know-Who raised his wand to perform the killing curse on Bella, but the curse rebounded and hit him instead, destroying his body. Nobody knows why this happened, it had never happened before and it hasn't since. Bella was declared a national hero before she could even talk. She was sent to live with her last remaining blood relatives, her Aunt, Uncle and cousin on her mother's side. They were muggles… sorry, non-magical, so Bella didn't find out about her history or her magical ability until she was eleven and was sent her letter for Hogwarts. There were signs though, of course. Bella always enjoyed telling people about how on a trip with her cousin Dudley to the zoo, she –"
Hestia's story was interrupted suddenly by the appearance of a bright light in the centre of the living room. Rosalie and Alice screeched as the light transformed in front of them into the shape of an animal – a lynx to be precise. Edward didn't think things could get any stranger until the animal spoke in a booming voice, it's words directed at Hestia and Dedalus.
"The ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
Edward didn't understand why the animal had appeared or what the message meant, but apparently it meant something to the two wizards standing in his family's living room. Their faces both showed identical, devastated expressions as the lynx disappeared in another flash of light, leaving as fast as it had come.
"We have to go right now."
Hestia's voice was urgent and panicked, yet the Cullens all just stood and stared at her, none of them wanting to move.
"Why?" It was Rosalie who spoke first. "You've told us barely anything about why you're here, why should we go with you?"
"If you don't go, you'll die." Dedalus's voice was laced with anger, changing completely from the soft and non-confrontational man he had been just a minute ago. "Don't think just because you're vampires, you're safe. He won't hesitate to torture you for information, or kill you."
"Who's he? What the hell does he want?" Emmett injected, attempting to stick up for his wife.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He's looking for Bella."
"I thought he was dead?!" Edward roared. When he got his hands on this man, whatever his name was, he would tear him to pieces for what he did to Bella and her family, powerful dark wizard or not.
"We did too, until a couple of years ago. However, there's no time for talking. You-Know-Who and his followers are on their way here now, and we need to leave."
Hestia held out both her arms to Edward, Carlisle and Esme, gesturing for them to hold onto her. Edward heard Rosalie's protests as Dedalus asked the other half of his family to do them same with him, and he felt a vague inkling of frustration before Hestia pulled him back to reality.
"This might be uncomfortable."
She stared at the floor, concentrating, and then Edward watched as the world shifted in front of his eyes.
