"They're coming," Alice spoke fearfully.
The whole family had come to a halt in their activities, the moment that Alice had stopped dead mid way down the stairs, her eyes glazed, her breath stuttered and fear enveloped them, aided unfortunately by Jaspers empathic ability.
Edward sat stock still on the sofa; Renesmee perched on his lap looking worriedly between her father and aunt. His eyes unseeing as he viewed Alice's latest vision as it played out in his mind.
Emmett ever impatient to be included in the 'gifteds' experiences, broke the silence, "Who's coming? When will they be here?"
It took four words to shatter the happiness that had previously filled the home they now shared in Alaska.
"Volturi, All of Them," Edward stated in a monotone that belied the fear that held him rigid in his seat.
"But why? They know that Nessie is no danger," Rose stated worriedly glancing at her young niece, who now resembled a five year old.
"Acquisition and destruction, they feel that we are too large a coven, too talented, too dangerous to remain as we are no amount of promises that we don't intend to usurp their power will sway them, I'm sorry Carlisle, but talking won't work this time. If we don't agree to join their ranks, then it will mean death for all of us." Edward said, holding Renesmee a little tighter.
"Surely there is something we can do, perhaps splitting up, living apart yet close enough to see each other," Carlisle suggested.
"I'm sorry Carlisle, not this time, they are set in their path, Aro see's your ability to 'collect' talented vampires willing to stay without coercion as a threat to his rule," Edward replied.
"What are we going to do?" Rose cried, "We can't run, we can't hide and I doubt the other covens will rise again so soon after the last fight to stand with us, I don't want to die and I don't want to join them."
Emmett paced behind the chair his Amazonian wife sat in, tugging at his hair, worrying over whether he could protect them both if battle were to come or if they should cut their losses now and run.
"No!" Edward yelled, seemingly having picked up on Emmett's worries, "We can't let them break us up, I've spent too many years miserable, waiting to find my Bella and my Nessie and I refuse to let them destroy that."
Bella remained silent, listening from her seat beside Edward and Renesmee. She couldn't help thinking that this was all her fault, had she not persisted in her pursuit of Edward, the Volturi would've had little to no interest, she soon lost that thought when she watched her daughter cuddled up to her father, dozing with little care for what was going on around her. No amount of trouble would change her mind that the course that sent her Edward and Ness was wrong.
"How long do we have Alice?" Bella asked, absentmindedly twisting the sequoia handle in her pocket.
"A week, two at most," the spiky haired vampire responded despondently.
"I may have an idea, but I'll need a few hours to work it all out," Bella stated.
Edward glanced at his mahogany haired wife, a mixture of concern and confusion on his face. Bella smiled, hoping that she looked even slightly confident in her plan. If this worked, then they would be safe for the foreseeable future. With a bounce in her step Bella rose from her seat, kissed Edward on the cheek, followed by a peck to the top of Nessie's head and announced that she would be going for a quick hunt. Her vampire family remained seated looking perplexed by her somewhat swift departure, especially considering the current situation.
Bella burst into speed as she closed the back door, running swiftly into the nearby Denali forest. As she broke the tree line, she opened her senses and trained her hearing and sense of smell on her potential prey. She soon picked up the scent of a large Kodiak bear nearly fifty miles to the west. Bella sped into the forest, the scent of the bear as it ambled carelessly through the trees causing venom to coat her teeth. She felt ravenous.
She barely took the time to breathe as she pounced upon the large mammal and attached her mouth to its neck, biting down and slurping at the rich blood that flowed from the wound. She had hardly finished the last drop when she heard a distinctive pop a short distance behind her, a growl bubbled up from her chest as she turned towards the sound. Only halting in her protection of her now forgotten meal as she saw something, or someone she had not seen in nearly seven years.
"Professor Dumbledore?"She stuttered in surprise.
"Ah, Bella Swan, or should I call you Cullen now? It's been a while, I see you've been through some changes," the elder wizard replied. His light blue eyes piercing her knowingly over his half moon glasses.
"I don't understand, what brings you here, not that I'm not pleased to see you, I am, it's just unexpected."
"Of course, of course, it's a long story, one that I hope you and perhaps your family will be able to assist me with. Dark times are upon us Ms Cullen, the dark lord amasses his army and I come in search of allies and assistance. Although I think my coming may prove mutually beneficial hmm," Dumbledore stated. The wizard though elderly in years was still as dominating in presence as he ever was, his wizened features, and twinkly eyes belied the power the hid within his wrinkled face and creaky bones. 'He never misses a trick.' Bella thought to herself.
Bella felt a surge of excitement and relief, she was sure that Dumbledore would have the answers to the Volturi problem that bore down on her family and she had absolute faith that they would offer their assistance on his great mission in return.
"Professor, perhaps we should reconvene back at the house, as much as this meeting is pleasing to me, I can't help but think that this conversation requires some privacy and full attention."
"Absolutely Ms Cullen, I couldn't put it better myself, and I could do with a nice seat and perhaps some tea and cake."
With that the elder wizard offered his arm gallantly to Bella, she took it without hesitation and they disappeared with a pop. Only to reappear in the middle of the Cullen's spacious front room, causing both Emmett and Jasper to jump high into the air like a cat whose tail had been caught in a rocking chair. Jasper in particular hung by his finger tips from the large wooden beam that stretched the length of the ceiling. A hiss escaping between his parted lips.
"What in the blue blazes," the golden haired Texan yelled, much to the delight of the older wizard.
Bella giggled from beside Dumbledore, glancing mischievously at her now gawping husband, who looked from the strangely dressed old man to his giggling wife.
"Bella, something you want to share with class?" he asked, his eyes bugging slightly as he listened to the wizard hum to himself in his thoughts.
"Um," was Bella's response, only now realising that she had failed in informing her husband and his family of her magical past.
Dumbledore sensing Bella's problem decided to take matters into his own hands, raised his wand and conjured a full tea service, complete with Teapot in a hand knitted cosy and positioned on lace doileys along with a plate of scones with jam and cream. He smiled as the aroma of Earl grey tea filled the air and sniffed with pleasure. The Cullen's looked on at the strangely dressed old man as he proceeded to pour himself a large cup of tea and dollop a huge blob of clotted cream followed by jam onto one of the scones.
"Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you and how did you get here?" Esme asked gently.
"Oh please forgive me dear lady, I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I got here by apparition," Dumbledore responded before taking a huge gulp of tea and humming contentedly.
"Forgive me for saying this," Emmett butt in, "but did you say School of witchcraft and wizardry? You'll tell me there's a university for ghosts and ghouls next."
Carlisle stood next to his wife, a perplexed look upon his face, he'd heard tale of such things when growing up in London all those years ago, his own father had persecuted such folk, alongside hunting the creatures that made him what he is today, of course he'd not taken much notice of the talk of witches and wizards back then, considering it nothing but ponderings of the weak minded. Now looking at the elderly bearded gentleman before him, stood in his own front room, dressed in a long blue tunic, with a large floppy pointed hat upon his head, he reconsidered that opinion. However it didn't answer the begging question, why was he here and how did he know Bella.
"He's telling the truth Emmett," Bella responded, clutching the Vine with Sequoia handle wand in her pocket.
"If that's true Bella, how did we not know of it before now?" Rosalie responded, her need to protect her family at all costs raising to the surface the only thing stopping her anger from bursting forth.
"For starters, my cousin was one of his students as was my grandfather and I spent a few months there as an exchange student when I was 13. The reason you didn't know, is due to an accord a treaty between the leaders of the magical realm, and their counterparts in the wider world of mythical creatures over 500 years ago, that hid the existence of wizarding folk. Around the middle ages, when witch hunts and the like were prevalent, the leaders of the aforementioned realms came together. Real witches and wizards as well as numerous mythical and magical creatures were under threat due to the witch hunts and the inquisition. It was agreed that we 'magic folk' would drift into obscurity in order to prevent anymore unnecessary deaths. It worked in that now other than in certain circles we can only be found in myths and legends. Thus the laws of keeping the secret became more rigid than they were previously."Bella stated.
The rest of the family looked on in awe of the young vampire, while Dumbledore nodded proudly at her, before taking a large bite of his scone.
"Well that explains a few things about my father," Carlisle said absent mindedly as he caressed the scar on his neck. An almost self conscious gesture.
"How did I not know this about you love?" Edward asked, he felt a little saddened that this part of Bella's life had been kept secret from him. Surely as her husband, her mate she trusted him enough to know.
"Oh Edward," Bella responded, seeing the dejection on his face, she rushed to his side, intent on offering comfort. She hadn't intended to keep it a secret from him. In fact she had intended to inform him numerous times over the last year; things had just gotten in the way. "I'm sorry my love, I always intended to tell you, things just always put it out of my mind, there always seemed to be some other priority that got in the way, I'll tell you everything my love."
Edward nodded and looked on at Bella, his eyes shining with curiosity, his smile curling up at the side, making it appear crooked. "I would like that, very much."
Bella looked over at Professor Dumbledore, who nodded at her in encouragement. She smiled back before turning her attention to her family.
"When I was 5, I accidently caused my mother's hair to turn neon green, by sneezing, see children particularly young ones born with magical ability tend to suffer from what the ministry calls bouts of accidental magic. The effects are normally quite harmless and as we age, we get greater control of our skills. My cousin Dora coughed when she was 7 and grew a tail, thankfully after a few hours it disappeared. When I was 9 I got so angry with Dora that I conjured a small tornado in her back garden and proceeded to destroy the swing set, tree house and ornamental pond that my uncle Ted had created for the Remora my aunt kept."
Emmett snickered, as did Jasper, both looking on amused at another tale of destruction by Bella. The rest of the family looked on with looks of shock, awe and mirth.
Bella rolled her eyes and continued, "When I was nearly 11, I received my letter, inviting me to start school at Ilvermorny School of witchcraft and wizardry along with a list of equipment I would need. I spent the next 7 years until my graduation learning all that I could about magic, from hexes to jinx's, potions to plants, defence against the dark arts to keeping and caring for magical creatures. I graduated a few weeks before I moved back to forks, needless to say my school transcripts would've meant nothing in an American high school, and my graduation held no weight in the muggle world. So I resumed my muggle schooling in Forks."
"Muggle?" Alice asked, only now joining in on the conversation.
"Oh muggles are non magical folk, although here in the states we call them No Majs," Bella responded.
"So your dad knows about all this?" Edward asked, his eyebrows pinched, thinking of the grizzled police chief.
"Of course," Bella replied, "He's a wizard too, he only works as a Police Chief, as part of his cover, he's actually an Auror on special duty as part of an international wizarding law enforcement task force. My mother however is a muggle, although with the way that she acts you'd never know."
Edward blanched at the thought of Charlie Swan, the taciturn moustachioed Police Chief wielding magic. "He's known what I am, what we are, the whole time hasn't he," he gulped.
"Sorry to burst the bubble my love, but we both knew that you were vampires the moment we saw you, infact..." Bella stated before turning to Carlisle who looked on bewildered, "You are even mentioned in our course books, the history of the golden eyed vampire. Stregoni benefici. You'll find you're quite famous in wizarding circles Carlisle."
The rest of the evening continued in this way, Bella informing her family of her magical past and that of her father, the Cullen's going from bewildered, to confused, to gobsmacked to outright thrilled. Especially when Bella informed Emmett of the existence of actual Dragons. He and Jasper were chomping at the bit to track one down and wrestle. They were soon disappointed to hear that they were protected, so that would be a pipe dream for the foreseeable future. Dumbledore continued on with his afternoon tea, occasionally offering titbits of information to fill in Bella's story. As the night wore on, Bella finally felt she had given them a big enough understanding of her past, so she felt that it only right that Dumbledore should take the mantle. She only hoped he had the answer to their predicament.
"Well," Carlisle said with a clap of his hands, "that was wholly unexpected, but not at all unwelcome, although it does give us more reason to keep you as far from the Volturi as possible Bella. However, Professor, it doesn't explain your sudden appearance."
The wizard took a final sip of his tea and placed the cup back onto the coffee table. He glanced with knowing eyes at each of the assembled vampires; a lesser man would've been a bundle of fear in such company. Before taking a deep breath and wearily wiping his face. His actual age showing in his wrinkled features. Bella looked at her former mentor in concern, things must be seriously wrong for him to appear so vulnerable. She reached over and clasped his hand in support, offering all of her strength and nodded for him to continue.
"I'm sure Bella and perhaps Charlie too will help fill in the background later, the wizarding world is in a state of discord, dark times are upon us and a great evil that was thought banished has returned. The dark lord a very dark and evil wizard that caused much discord and countless deaths near on 16 years ago has returned. His followers are amassing and I fear that it will come to all out war." Dumbledore stated sadly.
Bella gasped her eyes bulging in outright fear, "He's back?!"
Jasper reeled with the burst of emotion from his new sister and struggled to push calm her way before he buckled under the pressure of it.
"He's back," Dumbledore nodded, "He killed a student of mine last year during the Tri-Wizard tournament and attempted to kill Harry Potter once again. I fear he already has people in the ministry, as the Minister himself is denying the events to all and any who will listen. On top of that numerous witches and wizards sympathetic to muggles have gone missing, only yesterday Harry Potter was attacked alongside a muggle in broad daylight by Dementors, he managed to fight them off with a patronus, however the Ministry intend to make an example of him and expel him from Hogwarts for using underage magic in front of a muggle. Needless to say that's my next stop once I leave here."
"Oh goodness!" Esme exclaimed clasping her hands to her lips.
"But if he is expelled, then he'll not learn to defend himself and will become an even bigger target!" Bella stated worriedly.
"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded sagely, "Seems a little contrived do you not think?!"
"Forgive me if this seems callous but what has this to do with us?" Rosalie interrupted.
The wizard smiled at the blonde vampire before turning his attention to the others.
"I feel that we can be mutually helpful to one another."
"How exactly?" asked Carlisle.
"I'm aware of your issues with the Volturi, I believe in that sense my timing may be just right, I'm here to offer you a job and...sanctuary."
The vampires looked at each other before staring back at the wizard who sat quite comfortably in the plush arm chair.
"Sanctuary?" asked Jasper
"A job?" asked Edward
Bella sat upright in her seat, a smile breaking free over her face having worked out just what the professor may be offering. She bubbled with excitement at the thought of returning to her former home away from home. Dumbledore glanced at her knowingly, his blue eyes sparkling at the excitement he saw brimming under the surface of his former student. Alice froze and her eyes glazed over, she gasped and bounced in her seat as Dumbledore's plan was revealed to her. Edward having seen the vision looked between his wife and wizard in disbelief. Emmett impatient as ever broke the silence.
"So, anyone wants to fill in those of us not of a magical or gifted persuasion."
"Sorry good fellow," Dumbledore replied, "I intended to ask you all to join me at Hogwarts, the school is unplotted, therefore even the best vampire trackers will never find it, you'll be perfectly safe there. While there I had hoped that you would consent to keeping watch over the students, particularly Mr Potter, he seems to have an aptitude for attracting danger. I'd also like to offer Bella a teaching position to cover for our Professor of Care of Magical Creatures; Hagrid is on a special mission for me at present and can't think of anyone more suited to covering his class than say a Magical vampire. Of course, her family history gives her more than adequate experience to do the job."
The vampires grinned at the mention of Harry's ability to court danger, glancing at Bella with matching smirks, as if to say, 'yes, we know someone like that.' The thought of disappearing from sight of the Volturi was very appealing to them and the chance to learn something new rather than the repetitive cycle of high school was a big draw to the younger vampires. Carlisle rubbed his hands together at the thought of all the new knowledge that he could acquire. Alice literally vibrated at the thought of the different wizard fashions she could experience, while Rosalie sat quietly contemplating the thought of moving somewhere untraceable, finally being safe. Emmett and Jasper were keen to experience all the potential battles with mythical and magical creatures that they could have and both silently agreed to offer their special brand of assistance to Bella's classes. Edward cuddled Nessie closer, the thought of having her and his family in the relative safety of the wizarding school appealed greatly to him, not to mention getting even further away from that damned mutt Jacob for a while, made the thought of this new route all the more desirable.
"Professor, where would we live?" asked Esme, her mind churning with ideas for potential decorating.
"Ah yes, obviously you'll need some respite from being in the company of so many humans during the day, we have a gatehouse on the grounds, it'll be more than adequate for you and your family's needs while you're with us. I'll have our care taker open it up for your arrival. I'm not being presumptuous in thinking that you're agreeable?"
Murmurs of "yes" filtered from all the vampires in the room, a feeling of excitement began to bubble up among them at the thought of this new adventure they would be setting out on. Dumbledore stood from his seat and proceeded to shake hands with the assembled vampires, he smiled brightly at the sleeping Nessie cushioned safely in Edwards arms, Edward listened closely to his thoughts as the wizard opened his mind, "Beautiful child, I'm sure when the time comes her powers will rival even her mothers, I look forward to seeing her join us at the school." Edward grinned at the idea and nodded in response.
"I must be off, it's been wonderful seeing you Bella and meeting your family, I will be seeing you soon, watch for my owl, give my regards to your father and Newt if you see him. Alas I must now go to the Ministry and sort this mess our Mr Potter finds himself in." He said before disappearing with a pop.
The room erupted into joyful shrieks as the vampires all clamoured to talk at the same time, excitement and relief a potent mixture bombarding Jasper from all directions and being pushed back out. A huge sigh of relief seemed to engulf them all at the same time and they looked at each other, barely able to contain the grins that spread across their faces. Edward reached over to Bella and pulled her to his side, nuzzling her neck. "Mmm Professor Cullen, sexy," he growled in her ear causing Bella to giggle uncontrollably at her husband. Lifting her shield so only he could hear her, "Got yourself a naughty teacher fantasy my love?" He nodded gleefully, imagining Bella in a tight pencil skirt, tight white blouse and high heels. Bella shook her head at him, and offered him a more likely image of what she would be wearing for her classes. She giggled at his response as his eyes bugged out of his head at the sight of his demure wife dressed like a cross between some kind of demented zookeeper and a welder. Overalls, sturdy looking knee high boots, thick arm length gloves and a rugged looking hat. Not exactly the sexy image he expected, but then when Bella reiterated she would be working with many different magical creatures and the likelihood of being pooed on was great, then the clothes were essential. Not to mention the potential for bites, burns, scratches, bruises, and various bodily functions that she may encounter.