Title: Worn and Tattered

Author: 2pennies

Rating: PG

Fandom: Twilight/Harry Potter

Pairing: Edward/Hermione

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the creators of Twilight or Harry Potter.

Note: This is set after Edward has left Bella in New Moon and sometime during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I wanted Edward and Hermione to be around the same age. I thought I would play around with a crossover. Just a small ficlet. I considered making this a multi-chaptered thing, but I like it sort of short and simple. Just a glimpse at what Edward/Hermione might be like.

---

"What?"

She continued to stare, her eyes squinting.

"Well?"

Her eyebrows furrowed uncomfortably. Finally, she gave up and rolled her eyes.

"You're reading my mind anyways, aren't you?" she dejected.

Edward's eyes gazed up with a questioning look. He returned to the book he had in his hand elegantly.

"Who's Cedric?" he asked, tone steady, eyes on the book. He had heard the name before in her thoughts, especially when she looked at him closely. She sighed softly, her eyes returning to the book she had in front of her.

Sitting across from each other in the quiet corner that they had dubbed as their spot in the small London library, Hermione wondered how she had managed to avoid the subject until now.

"A boy I knew," she replied softly.

"Knew?" he asked.

"He died."

Edward's eyes tore from his book again. He found that Hermione's eyes were dark and clouded, as if she was avoiding a distant memory. He hated invading her privacy, but with her, it was impossible not to.

"Classmate?" he asked, already knowing the answer. She nodded slightly.

He could hear what she didn't say.

…so kind and brave. Your eyes remind me of his. You have the same smile. The same beautiful smile. He died. Cedric died. But you, can you…

"I can't die," he answered suddenly, a gut reaction.

Her eyes shot up. She shook her head.

"Stop reading my mind."

He put his book down. With a soft, swift movement, he placed his hand over hers from across the table.

"I'm a vampire. I'm immortal. I can't die," he reassured her. Her gentle brown eyes met his, searching for the truth behind his words.

"But you can. A vampire could destroy you. A vampire could kill you. Or…," she replied, the sentence lingering on her lips.

A witch or wizard, someone like me, one of us could kill you.

Edward held his breath. He looked at the young girl in front of him and wondered how he got here.

---

It started last fall. He had moved to England, to run away from his own clouded memories of another girl with soft eyes. Carlisle had suggested they move together as a family, but Edward protested, asking everyone to give him some time alone. Alice had backed him up, persuading the others that what he needed was something none of them could offer. The day before he left on the plane, she hugged him and whispered in his ear –

"Let her have the book."

He didn't understand until two weeks later when he had found the small library tucked away in a corner of London. The walls of the library were filled with worn and tattered classics that he recognized immediately. He picked up a book at random and sat at a table near the far end of the building. Though his eyes read over the tiny text of the worn page, his mind swam with blurred images of long brown hair, light skin, atop branches of green trees, crisp air –

"Excuse me."

The small voice brought him back to his current setting, surrounded by old bindings and dusty pages. He turned his head to find her – unruly auburn hair that settled above her shoulders. A small hand tried to tuck a strand behind her ear. Her warm eyes were fixated upon the book he held in his hands. She saw that she had his attention.

"Will you be checking that book out?" she asked, her voice hopeful.

Without realizing, he searched her thoughts.

Just my luck that the book I need is taken. Hopefully, he'll give it to me. I wonder why he's reading about legendary myths and historical ruins anyways. I wonder if he's a wizard…

Edward adjusted himself suddenly. He understood why he hadn't smelled her as she had neared him. She was a witch. The scent of people who had powers of magic differed from normal humans. He hadn't smelled one in so long that he had forgotten how subtle the smell was. She was different though. He smelled her magic. And cinnamon. And clovers.

'Let her have the book' echoed Alice's voice in his mind.

Just like Alice, he thought as he chuckled inwardly.

Closing the book in hand, he offered it to her.

"It's yours."

Hermione's face broke into a sincere smile, wide and open for anyone to see.

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how long I've been looking for his book," she replied as she immediately began to flip through the pages with her slender fingers.

Edward couldn't help but mimic her expression in return, a grin spreading across his face. The emotion felt oddly foreign to him, unable to remember the last time he smiled so openly. He saw her do a double take, the wide grin from her own lips soon settling into a curious expression.

He…he looks sort of like…, he heard her say to herself. She shook her head slightly before she spoke again.

"I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger," she introduced with an extended hand, the other securely wrapped around the book.

"Edward Cullen," he replied, as he stood and shook hers. She shook his hand, her grip strong. He felt his own hand wrap around hers more tightly.

---

Edward couldn't help but feel warmth at the memory – their first memory. He felt the hand that was on top of hers hold it tightly like he had that first day.

Memories and images of their growing friendship over the seasons, revelations of who they truly were, how none of that seemed to matter, Harry, Ron, Bella, his family, The War, and everything in between flashed in his mind.

He still wasn't sure how he had come to this – sitting across from a witch, befriending a witch so honestly and without hesitation. He looked at her again, the sadness in her eyes and racing through her mind.

I'm worried. About The War. I worry about Harry and if he will be able to beat him. I worry about whether I'm strong enough for all of this. I worry whether or not we'll get to talk like this again, comfortable and happy. I worry about you…

"Why are you worried about me?" he asked gently. Her eyes were clear. She gave him a small smile.

"I don't have to be a mind reader to know that you'd do something incredibly stupid and dangerous if…" she stopped herself.

…If I needed you.

He heard her. Edward wondered how the girl across from him had made him forget about his past and everything he had left. How she made him worry, not because she was helpless, but because she was the complete opposite. Strong and stubborn.

Falling in love with a human had been hard for him.

Falling in love with a witch was becoming impossible.

"Incredibly stupid and dangerous?" he quoted, a hint of humor in his voice.

Her eyes were playful. She grew slowly grew still again.

"You won't leave me will you?" she asked. He heard the real question in her head.

…Like you left her?

In one graceful motion, he now sat beside her, still holding her hand, the other around her waist.

How can I make you understand, he thought to himself. Edward answered slowly.

"I would do any and all of the most incredibly stupid and dangerous things in this world for you," he whispered, his lips above her ear.

"Leaving you," he continued, "is not one of them."

---